Two years after the release of the Netflix documentary expose “White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch,” the retail company’s former CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested last week on international sex trafficking charges for crimes that occurred while he was running the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014. The 88-minute film, directed […]

Prague-based sales outlet Filmotor has secured international rights for Lebanese director Raed Rafei’s documentary “Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities,” which has its world premiere in the Frontlight section of IDFA film festival. In the film, queer director Rafei returns to Tripoli in Lebanon to confront a hometown that once rejected him. He interviews […]

Production has begun on “Izzy,” a feature documentary about late fashion designer Isabel Toledo. Directed by Chiara Clemente, the film will chronicle Toledo’s life with her husband and creative partner Ruben Toledo. “I trust Chiara to tell our story,” Ruben said in a statement on Monday. “She sees our love; how unique and rare it […]

Minimalist documentarian Roberto Minervini says he long ago fell in love with “the physicality of the camera” – a passion so strong, he now demands that his camera operators learn controlled breathing and work out extensively before a shoot can begin. There’s nothing that bothers him more, he told fans at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary […]

From its showcase of the most probing Czech and Eastern European nonfiction work to its tributes to underappreciated auteurs and platforms for indie collaborations, the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival is in its stride these days. With a newly expanded 28th edition, a 10-day gala held in the historic Czech town of Jihlava, the fest […]

Zuzana Caputova rose to the Slovak president’s office on a wave of outrage over corruption and her historic win signaled hope for millions of her country-folk. Five years after the 2019 win, Caputova chose to walk away from the highest office in the land rather than continue fighting the good fight. As Marek Sulik, director […]

Academy Award winners and best friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have a shot at more Oscar recognition for producing the documentary “Kiss the Future.” Variety has learned exclusively the Academy has granted eligibility to the documentary feature for consideration for the upcoming 97th Oscars. The decision follows an initial ruling by the Academy’s Documentary […]

In 2014, filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen became fascinated with a Norwegian photographer’s blog. The blogger – Maria Vatne – visually captured how she and her British husband, Nik Payne, raised and home-schooled their four bilingual children off the grid on a Scandinavian farm. “I admired her, as the family represents a lifestyle and mindset that […]

NFL Hall of Famer Andre Reed and Buffalo-born actor Chad Michael Murray have signed on to executive produce the forthcoming docuseries, “Just One Before I Die,” about the Buffalo Bills fanbase. “Just One Before I Die” tells the definitive story of the Bills Mafia and will chronicle the fans’ unwavering spirit as the Buffalo Bills […]

“The Bibi Files,” a documentary about Benjamin Netanyahu that features never-before-seen video of the Israeli Prime Minister being interrogated by police on corruption allegations that led to his indictment in 2019, will be available to stream on Jolt.film beginning Dec. 11.  In September, Netanyahu attempted to block “The Bibi Files” from premiering at the Toronto […]

Alexis Bloom’s “The Bibi Files,” Raoul Peck’s “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” and Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” are among the 15 documentary films that have received a coveted spot on DOC NYC’s feature shortlist. Launched in 2012, the DOC NYC feature shortlist, which this year includes several streamer-backed docs as well as […]

London-based international documentary sales and production outfit Dogwoof has unveiled the trailer for “I Am Martin Parr,” ahead of its world premiere Thursday at the Rome Film Festival. The documentary, from director Lee Shulman, is a portrait of photographer Martin Parr, who revolutionized contemporary photography by “inventing a political‚ humanist and accessible photographic language,” Dogwoof […]

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will open with the world premiere of Piotr Winiewicz’s “About a Hero,” the festival revealed Tuesday. IDFA also announced the main competition lineups for the 37th edition, which takes place in Amsterdam from Nov. 14 to 24. Newly unveiled selections include the Envision and International Competitions, the entire IDFA […]

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual […]

Serge Gainsbourg, the French pop poet and provocateur who courted controversy while scaling the heights of stardom over the course of his decades-spanning career, is the subject of an upcoming animated documentary from Logical Pictures and the company’s The Jokers Lab documentary label. The film will be featured in the co-production forum this week at […]

Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault’s abortion documentary “Zurawski v Texas” garnered the inaugural Artemis Rising Foundation Award for Social Impact at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The new award honors one film that transforms our culture and challenges the status quo. Executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence, “Zurawski v Texas” follows […]

Thirty-one years after taking center stage in D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’ “The War Room,” crafty, straight-talking Democratic political strategist James Carville is the star of another documentary, Matt Tyrnauer’s “Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid” The movie, which was acquired by CNN Films shortly before its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, will open […]