Having started this doc tracking project back in the summer of 2014, its been incredibly fascinating to see the development of these films and observer how filmmakers approach and engage audiences. For the most part, non-fiction filmmaking doesn’t ride the waves of celebrity statuses, and thus there is much less information floating around to keep track of progress and it’s not unusual to be completely caught off-guard when films seem to spring from the ether, born fully formed from nothing, like Michael Moore’s TIFF debuted Where To Invade Next or Werner Herzog’s Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (see still above), which was recently revealed to be among the many stellar looking films making up this year’s Sundance documentary line-up. I’ve been keeping close tabs on Herzog’s volcano project, Into The Inferno, and half expected to see it appear at Sundance or possibly Cannes, but the arrival of a completely unannounced doc on the internet’s revolutionary effects on society by the Bavarian master of cinematic existential crisis is something to be celebrated.
In addition to Herzog’s surprise appearance at Sundance is a whole host of less surprising, but no less exciting titles in DA Pennebaker & Chris Hagedus’ long gestating primate doc, Unlocking The Cage, Robert Greene’s Kate Plays Christine, which centers around the television host Christine Chubbuck whom committed suicide on air back in 1974 (and looks to interestingly pair well with Antonio Campos’ fictional treatment, Christine), as well as Robert Cannan and Ross Adam’s North Korean nightmare, The Lovers and the Despot (see still above), which first started to attract attention after being selected for development at the 2011 IDFA Forum. Other Sundance premieres that have climbed the ranks and found themselves near the top include The Settlers by Shimon Dotan, whom won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance back in 2007 for his feature Hot House, Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack’s Kickstarted Maya Angelo doc Maya Angelou And Still I Rise, and the reproductive rights focused Trapped by Dawn Porter, whose Gideon’s Army premiered at the festival back in 2013.
Those who, like me, spent their holidays transfixed to their television, enraged by Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi’s wildly popular Making a Murderer serial would do well to take note of Jamie Meltzer’s True Conviction, which centers around “a new detective agency in Dallas, Texas, started by three exonerated men, with decades in prison served between them.” Formally titled Freedom Fighters, the film moved into post production back in August and since its retitling received a sleek new website and a substantial new preview (see above), where the filmmakers let it slip that “the film will start playing festivals in early 2016.” Considering its Texan roots, I would be highly surprised if it didn’t make the SXSW cut.
From Gigantic Studios, the production unit that’s recently pumped out festival favorites like Joe Berlinger’s Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger, Margaret Brown’s The Great Invisible, and Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman’s E-Team, comes Joshua Zeman’s 52: The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World. The project, which “explores the phenomenon of the famed 52-Hertz whale’s tragic plight and sheds light on its connection to the growing epidemic of loneliness in our interconnected world,” received a Catapult Grant for production back in 2013 and subsequently mounted a successful Kickstarter campaign to secure additional funding. It seems the production is nearing completion, with a newly released trailer (see above) and the launch of a health awareness initiative in The Lonely Whale Foundation just last month.
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 |
Unlocking The Cage |
DA Pennebaker, Chris Hagedus |
Frazer Pennebaker, Rosadel Varela, Chris Hegedus |
Sundance Preem |
⬄ |
2 |
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World |
Werner Herzog |
Werner Herzog, Rupert Maconick |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
3 |
Kate Plays Christine |
Robert Greene |
Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #18 |
4 |
The Lovers and the Despot |
Robert Cannan, Ross Adam |
Sandra Whipham |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #56 |
5 |
Maya Angelou And Still I Rise |
Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack |
Chris Gardner, Raymond Lambert |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #62 |
6 |
Voyage of Time |
Terrence Malick |
Dede Gardner, Nicolas Gonda, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad, Andreas Roald, Sophokles Tasioulis |
Post Production |
⬇ #2 |
7 |
The Settlers |
Shimon Dotan |
Estelle Fialon, Jonathan Aroch, Paul Cadieux, Shimon Dotan |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #34 |
8 |
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time |
Robert Weide, Don Argott |
Robert Weide |
Production |
⬇ #4 |
9 |
Trapped |
Dawn Porter |
Marilyn Ness, Summer Damon |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #39 |
10 |
Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper |
Liz Garbus |
Liz Garbus |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
11 |
untitled Iggy Pop doc |
Jim Jarmusch |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇ #8 |
12 |
Into The Inferno |
Werner Herzog |
André Singer EP: Lucki Stipetić, Vanessa Dylyn |
Production |
⬇ #3 |
13 |
How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change) |
Josh Fox |
Deia Schlosberg, Josh Fox |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
14 |
Hooligan Sparrow |
Nanfu Wang |
Nanfu Wang |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #93 |
15 |
Under The Gun |
Stephanie Soechtig |
Olivia Ahnemann, Josh Kunau, Kristin Lazure, Stephanie Soechtig |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
16 |
Dear John Grierson: A Postscript to The Story of Film |
Mark Cousins |
TBD |
Production |
⬇ #6 |
17 |
Contemporary Color |
Bill & Turner Ross |
Bill & Turner Ross |
Production |
⬇ #9 |
18 |
The Bad Kids |
Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe |
Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe, Molly O’Brien |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #58 |
19 |
LoveTrue |
Alma Har’el |
Alma Har’el, Christopher Leggett, Rafael Marmor, Rhea Scott |
Post Production |
⬇ #5 |
20 |
The Beatles Live – The Touring Years (1962-1966) |
Ron Howard |
Nigel Sinclair |
Production |
⬇ #12 |
21 |
Amazing Grace |
Sydney Pollack |
Alan Elliott. EP: Joey Carey, Stefan Nowicki |
Completed |
⬇ #10 |
22 |
Shanghai Youth |
Wang Bing |
Eugenio Renzi,Sonia Buchman, Nicolas R. De La Mothe |
Production |
⬇ #14 |
23 |
Untitled Justin Timberlake concert documentary |
Jonathan Demme |
TBD |
Production |
⬇ #11 |
24 |
Untitled Grateful Dead Doc |
Amir Bar-Lev |
Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Andrew Heller, Sanford Heller, Rick Yorn |
Post Production |
⬇ #15 |
25 |
The Return |
Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway |
Ariella Ben-Dov |
Production |
⬇ #19 |
26 |
Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall |
Spike Lee |
Spike Lee, John Branca, John McClain |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
27 |
The Reagan Years |
Pacho Velez |
Sierra Pettengill |
Post Production |
⬆ #44 |
28 |
Ken Loach: Untitled |
Louise Osmond |
Rebecca O’Brien |
Production |
⬇ #13 |
29 |
Life, Animated |
Roger Ross Williams |
Julie Goldman |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
30 |
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You |
Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing |
Suzanne Hillinger, Brent Miller |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
31 |
Cameraperson |
Kirsten Johnson |
Marilyn Ness, Kirsten Johnson |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
32 |
When Two Worlds Collide |
Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel |
Taira Akbar |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #107 |
33 |
Getting Personal |
Doug Block |
Doug Block |
Production |
⬇ #26 |
34 |
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios |
Lucy Walker |
Christine Cowin, Zak Kilberg. EP: Wim Wenders |
Production |
⬇ #32 |
35 |
Strong Island |
Yance Ford |
Esther Robinson |
Announced, Pre-Production, Production, Post Production Completed INSERT Preem |
⬇#23 |
36 |
Newtown |
Kim A. Snyder |
Kim A. Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #212 |
37 |
O.J.: Made In America |
Ezra Edelman |
Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Erin Leyden, Deirdre Fenton |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
38 |
Sarah |
Tracy Droz Tragos |
Tracy Droz Tragos |
Production |
⬇#25 |
39 |
Sonita |
Rokhsareh Gham Maghami |
Gerd Haag |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #228 |
40 |
Untitled Kronos Project |
Sam Green |
TBD Producer 40 |
Pre-Production |
⭑ New! |
41 |
Rats NYC |
Morgan Spurlock |
EP: Morgan Spurlock & Jeremy Chilnick |
Production |
⬆ #43 |
42 |
Les Blank: A Quiet Revelation |
Gina Leibrecht, Harrod Blank |
Harrod Blank |
Production |
⬇#30 |
43 |
So Help You God |
Ashley York |
Ashley York |
Post Production |
⬆ #68 |
44 |
Bo66y the Movie |
Ron Scalpello |
Matt Lorenzo, Bennett McGhee |
Production |
⬆ #35 |
45 |
Proposition for a Revolution |
Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla |
Ruchi Bhimani, Anand Gandhi, Joris van Wijk |
Post Production |
⬆ #120 |
46 |
Mixed Feelings |
Guy Davidi |
Anna Somershaf, Kristian Mosvold |
Post Production |
⬇#16 |
47 |
Ask the Sexpert |
Vaishali Sinha |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#36 |
48 |
The Nine |
Katy Grannan |
Katy Grannan, Marc Smolowitz |
Post Production |
⬆ #87 |
49 |
David Millar Project |
Finlay Pretsell |
Iain Smith, Sonja Henrici |
Production |
⬇#42 |
50 |
Unseen Enemy |
Janet Tobias, Cesar Charlone |
Janet Tobias, Michael Ehrenzweig, Peter W. Klein and Rogger Lopez |
Production |
⬇#37 |
Legend:
⭑ New to Chart
⬄ No Change
⬆ Position Increase
⬇ Position Drop
# |
Film Title |
Filmmaker(s) |
Producer(s) |
Status |
Last Month’s Ranking |
51 |
Dick Gregory: How to Survive in America |
Andre Gaines |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#38 |
52 |
True Conviction (fka: Freedom Fighters) |
Jamie Meltzer |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆ #105 |
53 |
Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché |
Pamela Green & Jarik van Sluijs |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#21 |
54 |
Uncle Andy: The Andy Warhol Family Film |
Abby Warhola, Jesse Best |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#41 |
55 |
Weiner |
Joshua Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg |
Joshua Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg |
Sundance Preem |
⬆ #237 |
56 |
untitled Frank Zappa Doc |
Alex Winter |
Alex Winter, Glen Zipper |
Pre-Production |
⬆ #76 |
57 |
Rock and A Hard Place |
Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill |
Sheila Nevins |
Production |
⭑ New! |
58 |
A Better Man |
Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman |
Christine Kleckner, EP: Sarah Polley |
Post Production |
⬇#45 |
59 |
Forgiveness |
Elizabeth Stopford |
Nicole Stott |
Production |
⬆ #94 |
60 |
Sour Grapes |
Jerry Rothwell, Reuben Atlas |
TBD |
Production |
⬇#46 |
61 |
Untitled Robby Naish Doc |
Joe Berlinger |
TBD |
Pre-Production |
⭑ New! |
62 |
Hispaniola |
Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster |
Lea Marin |
Production |
⬆ #57 |
63 |
Kusama: Life in Polka Dots |
Heather Lenz |
Dan Braun, Karen Johnson, David Koh, Heather Lenz |
Post Production |
⬇#50 |
64 |
When God Sleeps |
Till Schauder |
Sara Nodjoumi, Till Schauder |
Production |
⬆ #121 |
65 |
Command and Control |
Robert Kenner |
Robert Kenner, Eric Schlosser, Melissa Robledo |
Production |
⬇#49 |
66 |
For the Love of Spock |
Adam Nimoy |
David Zappone, Kevin Layne, Joseph Kornbrodt |
Production |
⬆ #84 |
67 |
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four |
Deborah Esquenazi |
Deborah Esquenazi, Sam Tabet |
Post Production |
⬇#51 |
68 |
Night School |
Andrew Cohn |
Steve Bannatyne, Jason Orans, Zachary Shields, Louis Venezia |
Production |
⬆ #70 |
69 |
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes |
Brett Story |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#65 |
70 |
Ring Girls |
Amy Berg |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇#52 |
71 |
Cocaine Prison |
Violeta Ayala |
Violeta Ayala, Cédric Bonin, Alexandra Daly, Dan Fallshaw |
Post Production |
⬄ |
72 |
Diamond, Silver and Gold |
Jason Kohn |
Jared I. Goldman, Amanda Branson Gill |
Production |
⬇#54 |
73 |
Young |
Magnus Gertten, Fredrik Gertten |
TBD |
Production |
⬆ #78 |
74 |
The Look of the Music (Ennio Morricone doc) |
Giuseppe Tornatore |
Bobby Păunescu, Dragoṣ Săvulescu, George Shu, Serena Menarini |
Production |
⬆ #132 |
75 |
Gleason |
Clay Tweel |
Seth Gordon, Kimi Culp, Kevin Lake |
Sundance Preem |
⭑ New! |
76 |
Selling Our Daughters |
Josie Swantek, Dave Adams |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆ #98 |
77 |
52: The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World |
Joshua Zeman |
Lucy Cooper |
Production |
⬆ #134 |
78 |
Black Ballerina |
Frances McElroy |
Frances McElroy |
Post Production |
⭑ New! |
79 |
Olancho |
Christopher Valdes, Theodore Griswold |
Esther Anino |
Post Production |
⬆ #143 |
80 |
Cheer Up |
Christy Garland |
Liisa Juntunen |
Production |
⬇ #55 |
81 |
Memories Of A Penitent Heart |
Cecilia Aldarondo |
Patricia Benabe |
Post Production |
⬆ #111 |
82 |
21 Years: Quentin Tarantino |
Tara Wood |
Tara Wood, Jake Zortman |
Pre-Production |
⭑ New! |
83 |
Mammoth |
Chad Gracia |
Mike Lerner |
Production |
⬆ #92 |
84 |
Supergirl |
Jessie Auritt |
Jessie Auritt, Carmen Osterlye, Justin Levy |
Post Production |
⬆ #147 |
85 |
Big Sonia |
Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇ #64 |
86 |
Living With Giants |
Sébastien Rist, Aude Leroux-Lévesque |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆ #108 |
87 |
Kivalina |
Gina Abatemarco |
Anne Takahashi |
Post Production |
⬆ #137 |
88 |
Amazona |
Clare Weiskopf |
Nicolas Van Hemelryck |
Post Production |
⬇ #69 |
89 |
The Golden Dawn Case |
Håvard Bustnes |
Christian Falch |
Post Production |
⬆ #152 |
90 |
Mudflow |
Cynthia Wade, Sasha Friedlander |
Cynthia Wade, Sasha Friedlander. Co-Prod: Tracie Holder |
Production |
⬇ #60 |
91 |
Untitled Prison Project |
Roger Ross Williams |
Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix, Roger Ross Williams |
Pre-Production |
⭑ New! |
92 |
Jamaica |
Khalik Allah |
TBD |
Pre-Production |
⭑ New! |
93 |
Raising Bertie |
Margaret Byrne |
Margaret Byrne, Jon Stuyvesant |
Post Production |
⬆ #95 |
44 |
Mythical Creatures |
David Charles |
Lanette Philips |
Post Production |
⬇ #89 |
95 |
TBD |
Production |
⬆ #234 |
||
96 |
The Island and the Whales |
Mike Day |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇ #61 |
97 |
This is Congo |
Daniel McCabe |
Geoff McLean |
Post Production |
⬆ #96 |
98 |
Framed |
Cassandra Herrman, Kathryn Mathers |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬆ #223 |
99 |
Afterglow |
Noémi Veronika Szakonyi |
Julianna Ugrin |
Production |
⬆ #185 |
100 |
Chris Burden: Double Bind |
Tim Marrinan, Richard Dewey |
TBD |
Post Production |
⬇ #91 |