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Acquisitions – Documentary Films

Netflix Hit the Pavement…Jehane Noujaim’s The Square to Preem on VOD

While documenting  the downfall of a regime via the protest’s core viewfinder certainly provides for some raw nuggets of docu gold material, knowing that the conflict is forever-changing, constantly evolving and hard to summarize in two hours runtime meant that The Square, which favorably premiered at Sundance back in January, and then received an update/modes for it’s fall fest showings at TIFF and NYFF was a little like coming across a week-old newspaper which is why (via Scren Daily) Jehane Noujaim’s doc might play best via an on-demand route. Netflix just inked a deal that in my estimation is the ideal supporting venue for it. An early 2014 is being prepped.

Gist: The Egyptian Revolution has been an ongoing rollercoaster over the past two and a half years (2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and the ousting in 2013 of Mohammed Morsi) through the news, we only get a glimpse of the bloodiest battle, an election, or a million man march. At the beginning of July 2013, we witnessed the second president deposed within the space of three years.

Worth Noting: This received the Documentary People’s Choice Award at TIFF.

Do We Care?: From the docu-filmmaker behind Startup.com and Control Room, The Square more or less whets the appetite on the Egyptian uprising.

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).

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