D O C U M E N TA R Y DECEMBER 10, 2023 | SPECIAL ISSUE
PODCAST
DOC TALK Hosted by award winning filmmaker John Ridley and Deadline’s Documentary Editor, Matt Carey, Doc Talk features weekly interviews with filmmakers, storytellers, and industry leaders about creating critical content with the power to move the genre forward—and possibly change the world.
Available on Deadline.com and podcast streaming platforms.
D O C U M E N TA R Y
P R E S E N TAT I ON S
APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Davis Guggenheim (Director/Producer)
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Peter Nicks (Director/Producer)
The Mission
Jesse Moss (Director/Producer)
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Amanda McBaine (Director/Producer) Bobi Wine: The People's
Bobi Wine (Subject)
President
Barbie Kyagulanyi (Subject) Christopher Sharp (Co-Director/Producer)
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
Silver Dollar Road
Raoul Peck (Writer/Director/Producer)
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
They Shot the Piano Player
Fernando Trueba (Writer/Co-Director) Javier Mariscal (Co-Director)
HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Going to Mars: The Nikki
Joe Brewster (Writer/Director/Producer)
Giovanni Project
Michèle Stephenson (Writer/Director/Producer) Tommy Oliver (Producer)
TELEMARK AND GREENWICH
Pianoforte
Jakub Piątek (Director)
The Eternal Memory
Maite Alberdi (Writer/Director/Producer)
ENTERTAINMENT PARAMOUNT+ AND MTV DOCUMENTARY FILMS
SCHEDULE, FILMS & SPEAKERS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
ALL BE ARE O
This year’s race for the documentary Oscar is a wide-open affair BY M AT T H EW CA R EY
By the time December rolls around, a
Choice Documentary Awards, including
their identity for over a century. It’s a
frontrunner has typically emerged in
Best Feature and Best Director.
story of resilience and resistance from
the Oscar race for Best Documentary
Also hailing from Apple Original Films
an idyllic stretch of coastal Carolina. National Geographic Documentary
Feature. Not this year. The contest
is Underrated, the documentary about
remains wide open, more so than
NBA champion and dead-eye 3-point
Films, a perennial Academy Award
in any year in recent memory.
shooter Stephen Curry, directed by
contender, advances two Oscar
For that reason alone, it’s essential
Peter Nicks. Both Still and Underrated,
favorites—Bobi Wine: The People’s
to hear from the leading filmmakers in
in their way, tell stories of undersized
President and The Mission. The latter
the mix. And that’s where Deadline’s
guys with outsized accomplishments—
film, directed by Amanda McBaine and
Contenders: Documentary virtual event
Fox, who was picked on as a kid for
Jesse Moss, tells the shocking story
comes in. We’ve got your essential
his diminutive stature, and Curry, the
of a young American missionary killed
guide to an awards-worthy slate of
6’2” point guard who was told he was
as he attempted to bring Christianity
outstanding documentary films.
too small to make it in the pros.
to a largely uncontacted Indigenous
Among the all-star talent on hand
We will head down Silver Dollar Road
people living on a remote island.
is Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim,
with Oscar-nominated director Raoul
Bobi Wine centers on the titular
director of Apple Original Films’ Still: A
Peck, exploring his film from Amazon
charismatic pop star-turned-politician,
Michael J. Fox Movie, about the beloved
MGM Studios about a compelling African
who dared to run for president of
Hollywood icon. Guggenheim’s film
American family engaged in a struggle
Uganda in a direct challenge to his
recently won five prizes at the Critics’
to keep hold of land that’s been part of
country’s ruthless dictator. Co-director
ETS OFF Christopher Sharp, along with Bobi
won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S.
the world, including the prestigious
Wine and his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi,
Documentary at Sundance. Renowned
Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland.
join Contenders: Documentary to
filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and
discuss their film, which is nominated
Joe Brewster will talk about their
Sony Pictures Classics, uses dazzling
for four awards at the upcoming
innovative exploration of the work
animation—and the voice of actor
Cinema Eye Honors in New York.
and thought of poet Nikki Giovanni,
Jeff Goldblum—to investigate the
a dynamic advocate for Black pride,
fate of an extraordinary Brazilian
Maite Alberdi will take part in a panel
the Black Arts Movement, and civil
musician, Francisco Tenório Júnior,
on The Eternal Memory, from MTV
and human rights since the 1970s.
who disappeared in 1976 while on a
Oscar-nominated Chilean filmmaker
Documentary Films. Her feature,
Music underpins two of the award-
They Shot the Piano Player, from
visit to Argentina for a gig. Directors
winner of the top prize for international
winning films on the Contenders:
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
documentary at the Sundance Film
Documentary program. Pianoforte, from
will tell us about a story filled with
Festival, tells the poignant love story of
Telemark and Greenwich Entertainment,
intrigue, emotion and incredible
Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia,
takes us inside the world’s most
music, narrated by Goldblum, who
leaders of Chile’s arts community,
prestigious piano competition, the
himself is a gifted jazz pianist.
whose bond only deepened as
International Chopin Piano Competition,
Augusto faced Alzheimer’s disease.
held every five years in Warsaw. Polish
Contenders: Documentary event,
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni
director Jakub Piątek’s documentary
a journey through a stunning array
Project, from HBO Documentary Films,
has won prizes at film festivals around
of cinematic achievement. ★
Welcome to Deadline’s
MEET THE MODERATOR The Deadline staffers who’ll be guiding you through Contenders Film: Documentary
YOU R E MCE E JOE UTICHI EXECUTIVE AWARDS EDITOR
Joe oversees Deadline’s awards coverage, including its dedicated print magazine for the Oscar and Emmy seasons, AwardsLine. He also edits Deadline’s special ‘Disruptors’ edition for the Cannes Film Festival and serves as the emcee for its Contenders events. He has been aboard since 2012. Prior to joining, his work regularly appeared in his native U.K.— for outlets including The Sunday Times and The Guardian—and around the world. He has also worked extensively in film and television, producing EPK and production notes and working as a unit publicist. He is a member of BAFTA and has sat on multiple juries for the BAFTA Film Awards.
YOU R MO DE RATO R MATTHEW CAREY DOCUMENTARY EDITOR, AWARDS
Matthew Carey joined Deadline fulltime in 2020, after a long association as a freelancer, to specialize in coverage of the nonfiction film landscape. Matthew is a writer and producer whose work has appeared on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. He has written extensively about documentary film for CNN and CNN.com, Documentary magazine, NBCNews.com and TheWrap.
THE FILMS AMAZON MGM STUDIOS Silver Dollar Road Based on Lizzie Presser’s ProPublica article “Kicked Off The Land”, director Raoul Peck follows the Reels family's struggle to save their land. SILVER DOLLAR ROAD
The waterfront property in North Carolina, known as Silver Dollar Road, has been in the Reels family for generations, but the family has been harassed by land developers looking to take their property. APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS Stephen Curry: Underrated From an undersized basketball player to a larger-than-life star, Stephen Curry: Underrated tells the coming-of-age story of the NBA player, directed by Peter Nicks. The film follows Curry's career beginning in 2008 with his NCAA Tournament run at Davidson College through the Golden State Warriors’
STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED
NBA championship run in 2022.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
PARAMOUNT+ & MTV
Directed by Davis Guggenheim, this
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
documentary centers on actor Michael
The Eternal Memory
J. Fox as he reflects on what’s kept
Director Maite Alberdi takes a look
him active and fighting decades after
at the toll of Alzheimer’s on Chilean
being diagnosed with Parkinson’s
journalist Augusto Góngora and the
disease. The movie also incorporates
relationship with his wife Paulina
archival and scripted elements to
Urrutia. Paulina has been caring for
recount Fox’s story in his own words.
Augusto for eight years, since his diagnosis, and the pair try to maintain
HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS
a tenderness and a sense of humor in
Going to Mars: The Nikki
the face of the debilitating disease.
Giovanni Project Narrated by Taraji P. Henson, this film
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
follows the life of American poet Nikki
They Shot the Piano Player
Giovanni, directed by Joe Brewster
This adult animated documentary
and Michèle Stephenson. As a poet,
drama, directed by Fernando
Giovanni’s work was influenced by the
Trueba and Javier Mariscal, follows
revolutionary historical periods she
a New York music journalist (Jeff
lived through, from the Civil Rights
Goldblum), as he tries to uncover
Movement to Black Lives Matter.
the truth behind the mysterious
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
disappearance of young Brazilian NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
piano prodigy Francisco Tenório
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Júnior. The film also highlights the
Bobi Wine: The People's President
revolutionary artistic freedom and
Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp’s
creative expression movement,
documentary follows Ugandan singer-
known as Bossa Nova, in Latin
activist Bobi Wine as he uses his
American history during the ’60s
music to fight against an oppressive
and ’70s, just before the region was
regime led by Yoweri Museveni, who
engulfed by totalitarian regimes.
has led the country for 35 years and
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT
changed the constitution in order
TELEMARK & GREENWICH
to have another five-year term.
ENTERTAINMENT Pianoforte
The Mission
This documentary offers a rare
In 2018, John Allen Chau, an American
behind-the-scenes look at one of
evangelical Christian missionary,
the most prestigious classical music
was killed by a group of indigenous
competitions, the International
peoples known as the Sentinelese,
Chopin Piano Competition. Held in
during a several day mission to try
Warsaw, Poland every five years
and introduce the secluded tribe
since 1927, the competition hosts
to Christianity. The film, directed
160 participants that are winnowed
by Amanda McBaine and Jesse
down until only the best 12 pianists
Moss, showcases Chau’s life, death
advance to the final round. Director
and explores the ethics around
Jakub Piątek showcases the highs and
his attempt to Christianize people
lows of a competition that has been a
well known for repelling attempts
career launchpad for some of classical
by outsiders to contact them.
music’s most renowned artists.
THE ETERNAL MEMORY
GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT
THE MISSION
THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER
PIANOFORTE