The fall festival rush is upon us. Locarno is currently ramping up. Venice has released their line-up and Thom Powers and the Toronto International Film Festival team have dropped a bomb with a previously unannounced new feature from powerhouse docu-provocateur Michael Moore. It is truly a miracle that the production of a film such as Moore’s upcoming Where To Invade Next (see still above) managed to go completely undetected by the filmmaking community until it was literally announced to world premiere at one of the largest film festivals in the world. Programmed as a one of the key films in the Special Presentations section at TIFF, the film sees Moore telling “the Pentagon to ‘stand down’ — he will do the invading for America from now on.” Also announced to premiere at TIFF was Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, which has slowly been rising up this list, as well as Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ Welcome to F.L. and Mina Shum’s Ninth Floor (see trailer below), amongst others.
Earlier last month Locarno announced they would be premiering not only Chantal Akerman’s long in the works and newly renamed No Home Movie (see clip here), which, according to The New York Times, is “an intimate extended visit with her mother, who died at the age of 86, in April 2014.” The film marks Akerman’s first doc feature since 2006’s Là-bas (be sure to check out Chrysanthi Nigianni’s superb analysis of that film here). Also premiering at the famed Swiss fest so known for taking on nontraditional, often bold cinematic statements is Ben Rivers’ hybrid feature length companion piece to his expansive BBC installation The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers. His gaudily named film The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers follows his exquisite full length collaboration with Ben Russell, A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness. Completely new to this list and additionally debuting in Locarno is a beautifully lensed debut doc titled Dead Slow Ahead (see trailer below) by Spanish director and cinematographer Mauro Herce. Word on the street is its “a revealing and hypnotic trip on board the freighter ‘Fair Lady’, whose sailors are overwhelmed by an industrialized world in which they seem to be mere gears.”
https://vimeo.com/117612404
Moving up the ranks this month with the debut of a funny, yet deeply touching new trailer is director Vaishali Sinha and her film Ask The Sexpert (see trailer below). Back in 2013 Sinha received a Catapult Grant to kickstart production on the film after completing the short doc My Kashmir, while last year she received funds from the MacArthur Foundation to continue working on the project, it seems Sinha is nearing completion of what looks to be quite a fun, culturally inquisitive film about how “a longtime sex advice columnist gains popularity against the backdrop of a ban on comprehensive sex-education in schools in several Indian states.”
Robert Zemeckis’ zeitgeist capturing Back to the Future series continues to be celebrated as a monumental touchstone of 80s pop-culture. Back in March, director Jason Aron launched a massively successful Kickstarter campaign to fund his nostalgic documentary Back In Time, which looks to essentially be a feature length reflection of the cultural impact of the series featuring interviews from all the essential cast and crew members such as Zemeckis and Marty McFly himself. According to an update from the Kickstarter page, the film has moved into post-production and a trailer (see below) has been released on the film’s website. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this pop up as a late, high profile addition to TIFF or possibly DOC NYC.
https://vimeo.com/121577954
Coming out of seemingly nowhere with a brand new film premiering this Sunday on BBC, the tireless Mark Cousins has collaborated with Mogwai to present Storyville: Atomic – Living In Dread And Promise (see trailer below). While he’s been hard at work on a revisionist docu history film titled Dear John Grierson: A Postscript to The Story of Film and recently premiered the Christopher Doyle shot I Am Belfast at the Belfast Film Festival and subsequently Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, this latest work, according to indieWIRE, “explores life in the atomic age, from the death and destruction of the bombs, to the improvements in quality of life provided by X-Rays and MRIs, all done featuring only archive film and a brand new score by Scottish rockers Mogwai.” In a month full of cinematic surprises, this one ranks high.
As mentioned previously, for those attached to any of the docs mentioned below — please feel free to share any updates on the status of your projects. I can be reached at jordan [at] ioncinema dot com. Here is our most anticipated Top 100 docs in the pipeline.
# |
Film Title |
Filmmaker(s) |
Producer(s) |
Status |
Last Month’s Ranking |
1 |
Where To Invade Next |
Michael Moore |
Michael Moore, Tia Lessin, Carl Deal |
TIFF Preem |
⭑ New! |
2 |
In Jackson Heights |
Frederick Wiseman |
Frederick Wiseman |
Venice Preem |
⬇#1 |
3 |
No Home Movie |
Chantal Akerman |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⬆#24 |
4 |
He Named Me Malala |
Davis Guggenheim |
Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes |
Completed |
⬇#1 |
5 |
Unlocking The Cage |
DA Pennebaker & Chris Hagedus |
DA Pennebaker & Chris Hagedus |
Announced, Pre-Production, Production, Post Production Completed INSERT Preem |
⬇#11 |
6 |
The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers |
Ben Rivers |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⬆#17 |
7 |
Storyville: Atomic – Living In Dread And Promise |
Mark Cousins |
TBD |
BBC Preem |
⭑New! |
8 |
Afternoon |
Tsai Ming-liang |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
9 |
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time |
Robert Weide & Don Argott |
Robert Weide |
Production |
⬇#4 |
10 |
Janis |
Amy Berg |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⬆#42 |
11 |
LoveTrue |
Alma Har’el |
Alma Har’el, Christopher Leggett, Rafael Marmor, Rhea Scott |
Post Production |
⬇#6 |
12 |
Dear John Grierson: A Postscript to The Story of Film |
Mark Cousins |
Mark Cousins |
Production |
⬇#5 |
13 |
Into The Inferno |
Werner Herzog |
Werner Herzog |
Production |
⬇#7 |
14 |
Voyage of Time |
Terrence Malick |
Dede Gardner, Nicolas Gonda, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad, Andreas Roald, Sophokles Tasioulis |
Announced, Pre-Production, Production, Post Production Completed INSERT Preem |
⬇#8 |
15 |
De Palma |
Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
16 |
Ken Loach: Untitled |
Louise Osmond |
Rebecca O’Brien |
Production |
⬇#9 |
17 |
Beatles Touring Doc |
Ron Howard |
Nigel Sinclair |
Production |
⬇#10 |
18 |
Untitled Grateful Dead Doc |
Amir Bar-Lev |
Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Andrew Heller, Sanford Heller, Rick Yorn |
Post Production |
⬆#13 |
19 |
Human |
Yann Arthus-Bertrand |
Venice Preem |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
20 |
Untitled Iggy Pop doc |
Jim Jarmusch |
Jim Jarmusch |
Unknown |
⬇#20 |
21 |
The Return |
Kelly Duane de la Vega & Katie Galloway |
Ariella Ben-Dov |
Production |
⬆#87 |
22 |
Keith Richards: Under the Influence |
Morgan Neville |
Morgan Neville, Justin Wilkes, Jane Rose |
Netflix Preem 9/18 |
⭑New! |
23 |
The Event |
Sergei Loznitsa |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
24 |
Mixed Feelings |
Guy Davidi |
Anna Somershaf, Kristian Mosvold |
Production |
⬇#15 |
25 |
This Changes Everything |
Avi Lewis |
TBD |
TIFF Preem |
⬆#82 |
26 |
Sarah |
Tracy Droz Tragos |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#11 |
27 |
Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché |
Pamela Green & Jarik van Sluijs |
EP: Robert Redford |
Post Production |
⬇#16 |
28 |
Strong Island |
Yance Ford |
Esther Robinson |
Post Production |
⬇#18 |
29 |
L’esercito piu piccolo del mondo |
Gianfranco Pannone |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
30 |
A Better Man |
Attiya Khan & Lawrence Jackman |
Christine Kleckner. EP: Sarah Polley |
Post Production |
⬇#19 |
31 |
Winter on Fire |
Evgeny Afineevsky |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
32 |
Diamond, Silver and Gold |
Jason Kohn |
Jared I. Goldman, Amanda Branson Gill |
Production |
⬇#12 |
33 |
Being George Clooney |
Paul Mariano |
Christine O’Malley, Rivkah Beth Medow |
Completed |
⬇#21 |
34 |
Les Blank: A Quiet Revelation |
Gina Leibrecht |
Harrod Blank |
Production |
⬇#22 |
35 |
Gli uomini di questa città io non li conosco |
Franco Maresco |
TBD |
Venice Preem |
⭑New! |
36 |
Ninth Floor |
Mina Shum |
TBD |
TIFF Preem |
⭑New! |
37 |
The Settlers |
Shimon Dotan |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#14 |
38 |
Quay |
Christopher Nolan |
TBD |
Production |
⭑New! |
39 |
Trapped |
Dawn Porter |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#23 |
40 |
Contre-Pouvoirs |
Malek Bensmaïl |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
41 |
Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr |
Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard |
Patrick Reed, Michelle Shephard, Peter Raymont |
TIFF Preem |
⭑New! |
42 |
Getting Personal |
Doug Block |
TBD |
Pre-Production |
⭑New! |
43 |
Uncle Andy: The Andy Warhol Family Film |
Abby Warhola & Jesse Best |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#25 |
44 |
I Sogni del Lago Salato |
Andrea Segre |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
45 |
David Millar Project |
Finlay Pretsell |
Iain Smith, Sonja Henrici |
Production |
⬇#27 |
46 |
Rats NYC |
Morgan Spurlock |
EP: Morgan Spurlock & Jeremy Chilnick |
Pre-Production |
⬇#27 |
47 |
Driving with Selvi |
Elisa Paloschi |
TBD |
Edmonton Preem |
⬇#33 |
48 |
Vivere alla Grande |
Fabio Leli |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
49 |
Ask the Sexpert |
Vaishali Sinha |
Production |
Production |
⬇#45 |
50 |
The Reagan Years |
Pacho Velez |
Sierra Pettengill |
Post Production |
⬇#28 |
Legend:
⭑ New to Chart
⬄ No Change
⬆ Position Increase
⬇ Position Drop
# |
Film Title |
Filmmaker(s) |
Producer(s) |
Status |
Last Month’s Ranking |
51 |
Back in Time |
Jason Aron |
Lee Leshen |
Post Production |
⬆#72 |
52 |
Dead Slow Ahead |
Mauro Herce |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
53 |
The Island and the Whales |
Mike Day |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆#29 |
54 |
Welcome to F.L. |
Geneviève Dulude-De Celles |
Fanny Drew, Sarah Mannering |
TIFF Preem |
⭑New! |
55 |
Big Sonia |
Leah Warshawski & Todd Soliday |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆#60 |
56 |
Command and Control |
Robert Kenner |
Robert Kenner, Eric Schlosser, Melissa Robledo |
Production |
⬇#30 |
57 |
I Am Chris Farley |
Brent Hodge and Derik Murray |
— |
Aug VOD Preem |
⬇#39 |
58 |
The Corridors of Power |
Dror Moreh |
TBD |
Production |
⭑New! |
59 |
Al Purdy Was Here |
Brian D. Johnson |
Brian D. Johnson, Jake Yanowski |
TIFF Preem |
⭑New! |
60 |
L’Infinita Fabbrica del Duomo |
Massimo D’anolfi |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
61 |
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four |
Deborah Esquenazi |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#47 |
62 |
The Reflektor Tapes |
Kahlil Joseph |
TBD |
Theatrical Release 9/24 |
⭑New! |
63 |
Kiev/Moscow. Part 1. |
Elena Khoreva |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
64 |
Untitled Missouri Doc |
Rebecca Cammisa |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#32 |
65 |
The Lovers and the Despot |
Robert Cannan & Ross Adam |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#34 |
66 |
Untitled Frank Zappa Doc |
Alex Winter |
Alex Winter, Glen Zipper |
Announced |
⭑New! |
67 |
Fixing Dad |
Ian and Anthony Whitington |
TBD |
Completed |
⬇#43 |
68 |
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes |
Brett Story |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#37 |
69 |
Gun Runners |
Anjali Nayar |
Annette Clarke, Kat Baulu |
Post Production |
⬇#44 |
70 |
The Marion Stokes Project |
Matt Wolf |
Kyle Martin |
Production |
⬇#57 |
71 |
Mythical Creatures |
David Charles |
Lanette Philips |
Post Production |
⬇#35 |
72 |
What Tomorrow Brings |
Beth Murphy |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#67 |
73 |
Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer |
Matt Tyrnauer |
Josh Braun |
Post Production |
⬇#36 |
74 |
Left on Purpose: The Disruptive Life of Mayer Vishner |
Justin Schein |
Eden Wurmfeld |
Post Production |
⬇#38 |
75 |
Notfilm |
Ross Lipman |
Amy Heller, Dennis Doros |
Post Production |
⭑New! |
76 |
Genitori |
Alberto Fasulo |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
77 |
Rose |
Ben Rivers |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#40 |
78 |
Buena Vistasocial Club: Adios |
Lucy Walker |
Christine Cowin, Zak Kilberg |
Announced |
⬇#52 |
79 |
Night School |
Andrew Cohn |
Steve Bannatyne, Jason Orans, Zachary Shields, Louis Venezia |
Production |
⬇#53 |
80 |
Phantom Cowboys |
Annie P. Waldman & Daniel Carbone |
Ryan Scafuro |
Post Production |
⬇#41 |
81 |
Kate Plays Christine |
Robert Greene |
Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa |
Production |
⭑New! |
82 |
So Help You God |
Ashley York |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#46 |
83 |
Logs of War |
Anjali Nayar |
Steven Markovitz, Anjali Nayar. EP: Jonathan Stack, Edward Zwick |
Production |
⬇#48 |
84 |
Mudflow |
Cynthia Wade, Sasha Friedlander |
Cynthia Wade, Sasha Friedlander, CP: Tracie Holder |
Production |
⬇#55 |
85 |
Hispaniola |
Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster |
Lea Marin |
Production |
⬇#58 |
86 |
Untitled U2 doc |
Davis Guggenheim |
Shannon Dill |
Pre-Production |
⬇#87 |
87 |
Pieces of a Man |
Orlando Bagwell |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#49 |
88 |
Ring Girls |
Amy Berg |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#55 |
89 |
Brothers |
Wojciech Staroń |
TBD |
Locarno Preem |
⭑New! |
90 |
52: The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World |
Joshua Zeman |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#51 |
91 |
The Bill Nye Film |
David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg |
Seth Gordon, Nick Pampenella |
Production |
⭑New! |
92 |
Cocaine Prison |
Violeta Ayala |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#54 |
93 |
Les habitants |
Raymond Depardon |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#77 |
94 |
On the Outside: The Year After Prison |
Matthew O’Neill |
John Kennedy, Cynthia Farrar, Jon Alpert, Shannon Sonenstein Sonrouille, Reina Higashitani, Matthew O’Neill |
Production |
⬇#56 |
95 |
For the Love of Spock |
Adam Nimoy |
David Zappone, Kevin Layne, Joseph Kornbrodt |
Pre-Production |
⬇#66 |
96 |
Phosphorescence: Words Into Shining Light |
TBD |
Solon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter |
Production |
⭑New! |
97 |
Unseen Enemy |
Janet Tobias & Cesar Charlone |
Janet Tobias, Michael Ehrenzweig, Peter W. Klein, Rogger Lopez |
Production |
⬇#59 |
98 |
Out in Alabama |
Bonnie Blue Edwards |
Cynthia Wade |
Production |
⬇#73 |
99 |
Block Seven |