Adding another layer of intrigue to the saga of Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski and his notorious 1977 criminal case, previously documented in 2008's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, is a new documentary featuring testimonial from Polanski himself. Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir was helmed by showbiz documentarian Laurent Bouzereau and was revealed to be the secret screening set to follow the director's lifetime achievement award ceremony Tuesday at the Zurich Film Festival. Two years ago, Polanski was arrested while en route to the fest. Expect he'll make it through unscathed this time around? [THR]
Within the insular Traveller community in Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom, among clans that are closely related by marriage and birth, conflicts are solved through ritualized bare-knuckle fights buoyed by blood pride and machismo. Think Brad Pitt in Snatch and you get the lighter side of the boxing tradition, but in real life, as documentarian Ian Palmer discovered as he filmed one clan's champions over the course of 12 years, there's a dark and tragic nature to the custom that drives the culture.
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When the Weinstein Co. first announced their Apollo 18 project last year, they sent out a press release stating that Russian producer Timur Bekmambetov had discovered actual Apollo 18 footage that would be incorporated in their "documentary." Just three hours later, the studio retracted the release with a new one that curiously did not mention the footage. But then they released a trailer for Apollo 18 that opened by claiming "the following is the recovered footage from Apollo 18." Confusing much? On the eve of the film's release, NASA is finally coming forward to talk about Apollo 18.
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Controversial documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield has taken on many a challenging subject throughout his oeuvre of muckraking exposes. Now he's turned his confrontational, self-reflexive gaze on former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin and her rise through the political ranks, in Sarah Palin - You Betcha! Needless to say, this should be the anti-Undefeated. Hit the jump to see what happens when Broomfield dares to challenge Palin during a public Q&A session in California.
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When Michael Rapaport's documentary lens captured the behind-the-scenes drama between members of iconic rap group A Tribe Called Quest, his subjects took to the media to voice their discontent. But by the time Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest premiered at Sundance, Tribeca, and won the Audience Award at the L.A. Film Fest, Rapaport had earned all but one Tribe member's public support.
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With his nice guy looks and demeanor, Colin Hanks has played a lot of, well, nice guys over the years. But in Gil Cates, Jr.'s Lucky, in limited release this week, the 33-year-old actor and neophyte documentarian throws that image for a loop as Ben, a meek Midwesterner who wins a $36 million lottery jackpot, marries his dream girl (Ari Graynor)... and just so happens to be a serial killer.
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Actor Michael Rapaport was such a passionate fan of hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest, it's almost tragic what happened after he was granted permission to film the group, reunited after disbanding in 1998, for his directorial debut in the documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Having captured incredibly intimate footage of members Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, Jarobi White, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad -- along with a veritable oral history of the '90s-era Native Tongues hip-hop movement culled from musical luminaries of past and present -- Rapaport found himself on the outs with A Tribe Called Quest just as his passion project was on the brink of a distribution deal.
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You read that right: Stephen Bannon, whose Sarah Palin documentary The Undefeated has drawn critical ire across the aisles, says an uncut version of his film will be released on demand following its PG-13 theatrical release July 15. The new cut will depict even more of the dastardly violence and vulgarity the former Alaska governor/vice presidential candidate has suffered during her rise in the public eye, including "crucifixions, lynching and suicides" sourced from social media. Pulling a classic double dip! Looks like Hollywood and its hateful methods aren't all despicable, eh?[THR]
Hip-hop heads, take note: Your new must-see film is coming this summer, courtesy of actor and now documentarian Michael Rapaport. With appearances from multi-generational hip-hop luminaries like Common, Ludacris, the Beastie Boys and more, Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest examines the rise and dissolution of the iconic rap group. Yes, you can kick the trailer after the jump.
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Is it too early to coin the phrase "pulling a von Trier?" Because Peter Fonda added even more outspokenness to the controversy-laden Cannes Film Festival this week, calling President Barack Obama out during at Tuesday press conference for his BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill documentary The Big Fix. Not riding so easy anymore, eh Pete? Read Fonda's expletive-laden accusations after the jump.
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With Upfront Week in full swing (see Deadline's extensive coverage here), what better time to peel back the layers on the creative minds behind some of your favorite series of the past few years? The 2012 documentary Showrunners does just that, featuring interviews with the likes of Damon Lindelof (LOST), Jeff Pinkner & J.H. Wyman (Fringe), David Eick (Battlestar Galactica), Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy) and more, who spill on everything from daily life as a showrunner on a hit show to what happens when you sign away creative control. TV lovers, you're going to want to watch this trailer.
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If you've got a journalism fetish and a soft spot for the Gray Lady (and really, who among us doesn't), then this summer's Page One: Inside the New York Times is a must see -- a chronicle of a year spent inside the NY Times newsroom as stories like the WikiLeaks controversy hit and writers and editors alike confront the changing realities of running a print publication in a digital world. Movieline has your first look at the gorgeous Page One poster, featuring a glimpse of the historic newsroom and glowing blurbs from 11 leading print and online publications.
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If you saw the beautiful Oscar-winning 2007 musical romance Once, you probably know that in real life, actor-musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová formed the folk duo The Swell Season -- and fell in love off-screen. Though they're no longer dating, Hansard and Irglová's relationship is inextricably intertwined with the Swell Season/Once story, which is the subject of the music documentary The Swell Season which debuts tonight at Tribeca.
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Back in 2002, documentarian Nick Broomfield released the documentary Biggie & Tupac, theorizing that Death Row Records exec Suge Knight and members of the LAPD may have been involved in the still-unsolved 1997 murder of rapper Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace. This week, the FBI released eight years' worth of heavily redacted files on the case, including confirmation of some of Broomfield's theories.
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First time director Cindy Meehl brought the capacity audience at Austin's Paramount Theater to its feet with her crowd-pleasing documentary Buck, about Buck Brannaman, the gentleman cowboy-horse whose life and work partially inspired Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer. After the film, Brannaman and the filmmakers walked onstage to a rousing standing ovation for a Q&A filled with horsemanship advice, behind-the-scenes details, and a shout out to the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan.
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