‘Harlan County, USA’ Director Barbara Kopple Isn’t Done With Labor Just Yet

‘Harlan County, USA’ Director Barbara Kopple Isn’t Done With Labor Just Yet

When documentarian Barbara Kopple directs a film about the labor movement, she tends to go big. With 1976’s Harlan County, USA, she documented the dramatic 13-month strike waged by Kentucky coal miners against the Eastover Mining Company, filming armed standoffs and violent altercations between workers and management. In 1990’s American Dream Kopple tackled the failed…

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Czech Republic Nominates ‘I’m Not Everything I Want to Be’ for Oscar Race

Czech Republic Nominates ‘I’m Not Everything I Want to Be’ for Oscar Race

The Czech Film and Television Academy has selected Klára Tasovská’s documentary I’m Not Everything I Want to Be as the country’s submission for best international feature at the 98th Academy Awards. The formally daring documentary, which premiered at last year’s Berlinale and won this year’s Czech Lion for best documentary, profiles photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková, an…

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How a New Generation of British Documentarians Is Embracing Politically Charged Storytelling

How a New Generation of British Documentarians Is Embracing Politically Charged Storytelling

It’s no secret that the film and TV industry is getting more risk-averse. The projects awarded generous budgets are often anchored by existing IP (see: Disney’s constant stream of live-action remakes, endless Jurassic Park sequels or HBO’s Harry Potter reboot). Now the industry’s play-it-safe ethos is spilling over into documentaries, with an unrelenting true-crime obsession…

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Billy Joel ‘And So It Goes’ Directors On “Vienna,” Nas and the One Legendary Artist Who Turned Down an Interview for the Doc

Billy Joel ‘And So It Goes’ Directors On “Vienna,” Nas and the One Legendary Artist Who Turned Down an Interview for the Doc

“Music saved my life,” Billy Joel admits in HBO‘s And So It Goes. “It gave me a reason to live.” That stark, emotional admission sets the tone for the powerful two-part documentary premiering July 18 and 25, offering an intimate portrait of the six-time Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.  Directed by Emmy…

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But What if “Balloon Boy” Wasn’t a Hoax?

But What if “Balloon Boy” Wasn’t a Hoax?

When filmmaker Gillian Pachter watched the 2009 “Balloon Boy” saga unfold live, she told The Hollywood Reporter, “I couldn’t take my eyes away.” Same. “I was scared, I but I was also very aware of how, like, special and strange it was that I was watching a livestream, you know?” the director of Trainwreck: Balloon…

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Billy Joel Doc Makers Lament Ailing Subject Couldn’t Make Tribeca Opening Night But Insist “He’s Going to Be Fine”

Billy Joel Doc Makers Lament Ailing Subject Couldn’t Make Tribeca Opening Night But Insist “He’s Going to Be Fine”

The 2025 Tribeca Festival kicked off with the world premiere of the HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So it Goes, but its subject was unable to attend the celebration. Joel announced last week that he had been diagnosed with brain disorder Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), leading him to cancel his upcoming concerts and prompting concern…

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Sky Doc on Flight 149 British Airways Passengers, Crew Held Hostage by Saddam Hussein Gets Trailer

Sky Doc on Flight 149 British Airways Passengers, Crew Held Hostage by Saddam Hussein Gets Trailer

Flight 149: Hostage of War is the title of a new Sky feature documentary that recounts “one of the most extraordinary – and until recently, officially denied – chapters of the Gulf War,” the Comcast-owned company said on Friday in unveiling a trailer for the original film that will debut in the U.K. and Ireland in June. “On Aug. 2, 1990, just…

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Prince William Launches ‘Guardians’ Docuseries on Rangers on BBC Earth Digital Platforms

Prince William Launches ‘Guardians’ Docuseries on Rangers on BBC Earth Digital Platforms

Prince William is launching Guardians, a six-part docuseries on rangers and the important work they do to protect nature as “unsung heroes,” on BBC Earth digital platforms on Friday. The brainchild of the royal who has also voiced the trailer for the show and the introductions to individual episodes is available on the BBC Earth YouTube channel and…

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