We are becoming part machine.
That is the startling observation of Emmy-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, who has been thinking deeply about the ramifications of artificial intelligence for human culture. The director of Cameraperson and Dick Johnson Is Dead will deliver a keynote at the IDA’s Getting Real conference in Los Angeles this week, addressing what she sees as a fundamental truth about AI that sets it apart from human endeavors: AI “lacks a body,” and as such is disengaged from the fate of humanity.
Johnson joins the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss her feelings about AI – its areas of promise, but also the way in which the emerging technology is going to fundamentally alter our experience. She notes that more people are already creating new images through generative AI prompts – e.g., “Make me a photo of a frog in a pinstripe suit balancing...
That is the startling observation of Emmy-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, who has been thinking deeply about the ramifications of artificial intelligence for human culture. The director of Cameraperson and Dick Johnson Is Dead will deliver a keynote at the IDA’s Getting Real conference in Los Angeles this week, addressing what she sees as a fundamental truth about AI that sets it apart from human endeavors: AI “lacks a body,” and as such is disengaged from the fate of humanity.
Johnson joins the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss her feelings about AI – its areas of promise, but also the way in which the emerging technology is going to fundamentally alter our experience. She notes that more people are already creating new images through generative AI prompts – e.g., “Make me a photo of a frog in a pinstripe suit balancing...
- 4/16/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Jfr Productions, one of the producers of Dick Johnson & Tommygun Vs the Cannibal Cop and Johnny Gruesome has just finished his newest project, a feature length holiday rubber monster movie called Humbug. When the pandemic hit the world of filmmaking was sent into a tailspin and this experiment in improvisation is a direct result of that.
John Renna in association with Jason John Beebe has been secretly working on a no budget send up to little rubber monster movies that is Almost Entirely Improvised and they have the first look at the new trailer.
A normal guy (Renna) is bitten by a rare insect while looking for Christmas decorations to bloody and sometimes hilarious consequences. He is slowly transformed into a walking incubation chamber with a penchant for blood(and condiments). The man’s personality, wants and desires are replaced by an insect-like instinct to survive. The creature is attracted to food,...
John Renna in association with Jason John Beebe has been secretly working on a no budget send up to little rubber monster movies that is Almost Entirely Improvised and they have the first look at the new trailer.
A normal guy (Renna) is bitten by a rare insect while looking for Christmas decorations to bloody and sometimes hilarious consequences. He is slowly transformed into a walking incubation chamber with a penchant for blood(and condiments). The man’s personality, wants and desires are replaced by an insect-like instinct to survive. The creature is attracted to food,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Documentary fans might be forgiven for nurturing a dream – that Cannes would follow the recent example of Venice and Berlin and award its top prize to a nonfiction film. Complete the documentary Triple Crown – the Golden Lion, the Golden Bear and the Palme d’or.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. On Saturday night, Cannes gave the gilded frond to a narrative-fiction film, as it generally does, Anatomy of a Fall. But perhaps the important thing is, the jury could have made the trifecta happen. Two documentaries appeared in main competition – Wang Bing’s Jeunesse (Youth) and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) – ending a nearly 20-year span in which no nonfiction film had been accorded the prestige of a competition slot. As they say about the lottery,...
Alas, it wasn’t to be. On Saturday night, Cannes gave the gilded frond to a narrative-fiction film, as it generally does, Anatomy of a Fall. But perhaps the important thing is, the jury could have made the trifecta happen. Two documentaries appeared in main competition – Wang Bing’s Jeunesse (Youth) and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) – ending a nearly 20-year span in which no nonfiction film had been accorded the prestige of a competition slot. As they say about the lottery,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Two films by Arab women directors are sharing the L’Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) prize for the best documentary in Cannes. Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania and The Mother of All Lies (La Mère de tous les mensonges) by Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir were announced as the winners at a joint ceremony this morning at the Palais in Cannes.
“It’s huge,” Ben Hania told Deadline after the announcement. “I’m very happy and I’m also very happy to share this prize with Asmae from Morocco. And I think that it means something for the region, for the storytellers, for us women directors… It’s so special.”
Both Ben Hania and El Moudir were on hand for the presentation at the Salon des Ambassadeurs. It the second prize in two days for El Moudir. On Thursday, she won best director in...
“It’s huge,” Ben Hania told Deadline after the announcement. “I’m very happy and I’m also very happy to share this prize with Asmae from Morocco. And I think that it means something for the region, for the storytellers, for us women directors… It’s so special.”
Both Ben Hania and El Moudir were on hand for the presentation at the Salon des Ambassadeurs. It the second prize in two days for El Moudir. On Thursday, she won best director in...
- 5/27/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
On the heels of collaborating with David Cronenberg and Olivier Assayas last year, Kristen Stewart has found a new project. It’s quite an enticing amalgamation of talent: Cameraperson and Dick Johnson is Dead director Kirsten Johnson will direct Stewart in the tentatively titled Sontag, in which the actress will play the legendary Susan Sontag.
Screen Daily has the first details on the project, which will actually begin shooting at the Berlin International Film Festival this month, where Stewart is president of the international jury. As one might expect from Johnson, the project will not take the form of a standard biopic, rather capturing four chapters in the writer, philosopher, and activist’s life. Based on Ben Moser’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Sontag: Her Life and co-written by Johnson and Lisa Kron, the film is backed by Brouhaha Entertainment.
“We’re using Berlin as a moment to kick off the...
Screen Daily has the first details on the project, which will actually begin shooting at the Berlin International Film Festival this month, where Stewart is president of the international jury. As one might expect from Johnson, the project will not take the form of a standard biopic, rather capturing four chapters in the writer, philosopher, and activist’s life. Based on Ben Moser’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Sontag: Her Life and co-written by Johnson and Lisa Kron, the film is backed by Brouhaha Entertainment.
“We’re using Berlin as a moment to kick off the...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Opening her masterclass at doc film festival Visions du Réel in Switzerland, cinematographer and filmmaker Kirsten Johnson – an Emmy and Sundance award winner for “Dick Johnson Is Dead” – started by naming each and every member of the technical crew on set.
“What I often find upsetting with cinema is that we forget to acknowledge all the people it takes to make these moments together. I learnt that through being a cameraperson, and I’m interested in understanding why we want to reduce it to just one person, because there’s something beautiful about the fact that all of these humans, collectively, help us be here today,” she said, employing her favorite word to describe her work, “Cameraperson,” which is also the title of second feature film.
Over three decades, Johnson has worked on some 60 films as a cinematographer, for the likes of Michael Moore and Laura Poitras, made a couple...
“What I often find upsetting with cinema is that we forget to acknowledge all the people it takes to make these moments together. I learnt that through being a cameraperson, and I’m interested in understanding why we want to reduce it to just one person, because there’s something beautiful about the fact that all of these humans, collectively, help us be here today,” she said, employing her favorite word to describe her work, “Cameraperson,” which is also the title of second feature film.
Over three decades, Johnson has worked on some 60 films as a cinematographer, for the likes of Michael Moore and Laura Poitras, made a couple...
- 4/16/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Filmmakers Daniel Fradin and Kyle Rosenbluth today announced the launch of their bicoastal production company, Frank and Beans Pictures, which will focus on producing documentaries, narrative films, and branded content. The announcement comes as their EarthX-winning documentary short, Arctic Summer, premieres online as a Vimeo Staff Pick, following an extended run on the festival circuit.
Fradin and Rosenbluth are currently in development on the documentary Post No Bills, their first narrative feature Baby Boy Man, and Driverless, a sci-fi thriller they’re collaborating on with producer David Sweeney of Sweeney Entertainment. Baby Boy Man is billed as a comedy examining Broadway in the 1990s, with Driverless, scripted by Fradin, looking to examine a young female journalist who uncovers sinister secrets within the driverless car space. Fradin is also currently in post-production on his short film, A Funny Thing Happened to Bennie Baron.
Fradin and Rosenbluth met as undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania,...
Fradin and Rosenbluth are currently in development on the documentary Post No Bills, their first narrative feature Baby Boy Man, and Driverless, a sci-fi thriller they’re collaborating on with producer David Sweeney of Sweeney Entertainment. Baby Boy Man is billed as a comedy examining Broadway in the 1990s, with Driverless, scripted by Fradin, looking to examine a young female journalist who uncovers sinister secrets within the driverless car space. Fradin is also currently in post-production on his short film, A Funny Thing Happened to Bennie Baron.
Fradin and Rosenbluth met as undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania,...
- 12/9/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO’s “Welcome to Chechnya” and Netflix’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” were strong contenders for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars this past year, but neither made the cut with the motion picture academy. However, the Oscars’ loss is the Emmys’ gain as both nonfiction films are nominated for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, along with another film that just missed out at the Oscars, “76 Days.” But which film will win?
Unlike in past years, there are no Oscar nominees in this year’s Emmy lineup; documentaries used to be anomalous in that they were often eligible at both events. But the Emmys instituted a new rule stating that “any programs that have been nominated for an Oscar are no longer eligible to enter the Primetime Emmy Awards competition.” So no more cases like “Free Solo” winning the Oscar and then sweeping the Emmys a few months later.
Unlike in past years, there are no Oscar nominees in this year’s Emmy lineup; documentaries used to be anomalous in that they were often eligible at both events. But the Emmys instituted a new rule stating that “any programs that have been nominated for an Oscar are no longer eligible to enter the Primetime Emmy Awards competition.” So no more cases like “Free Solo” winning the Oscar and then sweeping the Emmys a few months later.
- 9/1/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Kirsten Johnson takes her creativity a note higher. She’s unstoppable and has an innovative mind when it comes to non-fictional thinking and writing—her award-winning streaks keep on trickling. Dick Johnson is Dead premiered on October 2, 2020, on Netflix. Dick Johnson is Kirsten’s father and a retiring psychiatrist who is descending to dementia. And Kirsten’s safe place to face his father’s illness is behind the camera. To kill her father, a man she dearly loves, and said they belong together is not easy. But his dad’s assurance makes her do the unthinkable. He comforted her that he will remain alive
The Best of Kirsten Johnson’s Love Letter to Her Father in Dick Johnson is Dead...
The Best of Kirsten Johnson’s Love Letter to Her Father in Dick Johnson is Dead...
- 7/22/2021
- by Chelsea Sutton
- TVovermind.com
“Nomadland” wins four awards, including Best Feature; “Sound of Metal” wins three and “Promising Young Woman” takes two
“Nomadland” won Best Feature at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were announced live Thursday, and for the first time in primetime.
“Nomadland” took home four prizes, including Best Feature, Best Director for Chloé Zhao, as well as Best Editing and Best Cinematography. “Sound of Metal” also had a big night, winning Best First Feature, Best Supporting Male Paul Raci and an upset win for Best Male Lead Riz Ahmed. Carey Mulligan also won Best Female Lead for “Promising Young Woman,” and Yuh-Jung Youn won Best Supporting Female for “Minari.”
The coronavirus resulted in moving the Indie Spirits ceremony, now in its 36th year, away from its usual slot as an afternoon hangout in a tent near the Santa Monica pier on the Saturday before the Oscars to now taking place Thursday,...
“Nomadland” won Best Feature at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were announced live Thursday, and for the first time in primetime.
“Nomadland” took home four prizes, including Best Feature, Best Director for Chloé Zhao, as well as Best Editing and Best Cinematography. “Sound of Metal” also had a big night, winning Best First Feature, Best Supporting Male Paul Raci and an upset win for Best Male Lead Riz Ahmed. Carey Mulligan also won Best Female Lead for “Promising Young Woman,” and Yuh-Jung Youn won Best Supporting Female for “Minari.”
The coronavirus resulted in moving the Indie Spirits ceremony, now in its 36th year, away from its usual slot as an afternoon hangout in a tent near the Santa Monica pier on the Saturday before the Oscars to now taking place Thursday,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
The pretenders and contenders are out of the way and the awards season main event is finally here with the 93rd Oscar nominations unveiled this morning, for better or worse.
Announced from the UK by a jovial Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas in the early West Coast hours, the likely semi-virtual April 25-set Academy Awards bodes well for Nomadland, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Mank, Minari and Sound of Metal.
The 2021 nominations come off a year where none of the eight hopefuls in the Best Picture category, or anyone for that matter, made a big splash on the big screen due to the coronavirus pandemic shuttering cinemas globally. In that context, the nearing of spring this morning brought no bloom for Spike Lee or Regina King among others, if you know what I mean?
So, check out our list of who was given the brush-off this morning by the Academy of...
Announced from the UK by a jovial Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas in the early West Coast hours, the likely semi-virtual April 25-set Academy Awards bodes well for Nomadland, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Mank, Minari and Sound of Metal.
The 2021 nominations come off a year where none of the eight hopefuls in the Best Picture category, or anyone for that matter, made a big splash on the big screen due to the coronavirus pandemic shuttering cinemas globally. In that context, the nearing of spring this morning brought no bloom for Spike Lee or Regina King among others, if you know what I mean?
So, check out our list of who was given the brush-off this morning by the Academy of...
- 3/15/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
When, a mere two minutes into this documentary Dick Johnson - the father of documentarian Kirsten - is, apparently, killed in the street by a falling air conditioning unit, you know this is not going to be a regular documentary about Alzheimer's. Moments later, we see a crew helping him to his feet, resurrected, if you will; falling and getting back up again themes that will run through this intensely personal but resoundingly universal film. This is the first, but most certainly not the last time Dick will meet a slapstick demise in a film which is built on joy and the love of families while also acknowledging not just the creeping grief that attends degenerative conditions like dementia but the awareness we all have that many of our loved ones will die before us and, potentially, when we least expect it. It may also give you a craving for double-chocolate.
- 3/12/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Editors on films ranging from Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm to Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 have been nominated for the 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards, presented by the American Cinema Editors to recognize the year’s best in picture editing in 14 film, TV and documentary categories.
Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony April 17, where Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award and Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive the group’s Career Achievement Awards.
As for today’s nominees, the marquee film categories are split into Dramatic and Comedy. The former features Chicago 7 along with Netflix’s Mank, A24’s Minari, Searchlight’s Nomadland (edited by writer-director Chloé Zhao) and Amazon’s Sound of Metal. The comedy nominees include Borat, Netflix’s I Care a Lot, Apple’s On the Rocks, Neon/Hulu’s Palm Springs...
Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony April 17, where Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award and Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive the group’s Career Achievement Awards.
As for today’s nominees, the marquee film categories are split into Dramatic and Comedy. The former features Chicago 7 along with Netflix’s Mank, A24’s Minari, Searchlight’s Nomadland (edited by writer-director Chloé Zhao) and Amazon’s Sound of Metal. The comedy nominees include Borat, Netflix’s I Care a Lot, Apple’s On the Rocks, Neon/Hulu’s Palm Springs...
- 3/11/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The documentary film community gathered virtually on Facebook Tuesday night to chat and cheer each other on at the annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards. Oscar ballots are due Wednesday at 5pm Pt, and many documentary branch voters were on the livestream.
At the start of the evening, as we waited for the pre-taped presentation to begin, “Crip Camp” nominee Jim Lebrecht congratulated “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogel for his BAFTA nomination that morning. International Documentary Association chief Simon Kilmurry was on the chat, along with Sundance artistic director Tabitha Jackson and Kirsten (Kj) Johnson.
She took home the directing prize for “Dick Johnson is Dead,” one of nine Netflix films nominated and among three winners for the streamer, including “Rolling Thunder Revue” and non-fiction short “Love Song for Latasha.”
Many filmmakers sent in videos introducing themselves, from Martin Scorsese in New York (“Rolling Thunder Revue” won an editing award) and...
At the start of the evening, as we waited for the pre-taped presentation to begin, “Crip Camp” nominee Jim Lebrecht congratulated “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogel for his BAFTA nomination that morning. International Documentary Association chief Simon Kilmurry was on the chat, along with Sundance artistic director Tabitha Jackson and Kirsten (Kj) Johnson.
She took home the directing prize for “Dick Johnson is Dead,” one of nine Netflix films nominated and among three winners for the streamer, including “Rolling Thunder Revue” and non-fiction short “Love Song for Latasha.”
Many filmmakers sent in videos introducing themselves, from Martin Scorsese in New York (“Rolling Thunder Revue” won an editing award) and...
- 3/10/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The documentary film community gathered virtually on Facebook Tuesday night to chat and cheer each other on at the annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards. Oscar ballots are due Wednesday at 5pm Pt, and many documentary branch voters were on the livestream.
At the start of the evening, as we waited for the pre-taped presentation to begin, “Crip Camp” nominee Jim Lebrecht congratulated “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogel for his BAFTA nomination that morning. International Documentary Association chief Simon Kilmurry was on the chat, along with Sundance artistic director Tabitha Jackson and Kirsten (Kj) Johnson.
She took home the directing prize for “Dick Johnson is Dead,” one of nine Netflix films nominated and among three winners for the streamer, including “Rolling Thunder Revue” and non-fiction short “Love Song for Latasha.”
Many filmmakers sent in videos introducing themselves, from Martin Scorsese in New York (“Rolling Thunder Revue” won an editing award) and...
At the start of the evening, as we waited for the pre-taped presentation to begin, “Crip Camp” nominee Jim Lebrecht congratulated “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogel for his BAFTA nomination that morning. International Documentary Association chief Simon Kilmurry was on the chat, along with Sundance artistic director Tabitha Jackson and Kirsten (Kj) Johnson.
She took home the directing prize for “Dick Johnson is Dead,” one of nine Netflix films nominated and among three winners for the streamer, including “Rolling Thunder Revue” and non-fiction short “Love Song for Latasha.”
Many filmmakers sent in videos introducing themselves, from Martin Scorsese in New York (“Rolling Thunder Revue” won an editing award) and...
- 3/10/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Romanian film “Collective” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2020 at the 13th annual Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based awards show devoted to all facets of documentary filmmaking.
Kirsten Johnson took the directing prize for “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” while the award for outstanding debut went to Garrett Bradley for “Time,” which also won for its editing.
“Boys State” won the Audience Award, the only Cinema Eye Honor category in which the public was invited to cast ballots.
The Spotlight Award, which was designed to put attention on a film that deserves wider exposure, went to “The Earth is Blue as an Orange,” directed by Iryna Tsilyk. The Heterodox Award, given to a film that combines nonfictional and fictional techniques, was won by Bill and Turner Ross’ “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets.”
“The Truffle Hunters” won for cinematography, while “Feels Good Man” won in the graphic design or...
Kirsten Johnson took the directing prize for “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” while the award for outstanding debut went to Garrett Bradley for “Time,” which also won for its editing.
“Boys State” won the Audience Award, the only Cinema Eye Honor category in which the public was invited to cast ballots.
The Spotlight Award, which was designed to put attention on a film that deserves wider exposure, went to “The Earth is Blue as an Orange,” directed by Iryna Tsilyk. The Heterodox Award, given to a film that combines nonfictional and fictional techniques, was won by Bill and Turner Ross’ “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets.”
“The Truffle Hunters” won for cinematography, while “Feels Good Man” won in the graphic design or...
- 3/10/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Oscar documentary shortlist abounds with memorable love stories—between a woman and her incarcerated husband in Time, between a man and a mollusk in My Octopus Teacher, and in Dick Johnson Is Dead, between a daughter and her aging father.
Of those three films, Dick Johnson Is Dead qualifies as the most unusual stylistically. Director Kirsten Johnson, faced with her beloved father’s cognitive decline, conceived various outlandish scenarios in which her dad might die, and then filmed them.
“The premise of the movie is that we were going to kill my father over and over again with the help of stunt people until he really died for real. Why? Because we wanted to keep bringing him back to life,” Johnson tells Deadline. “I think we desperately needed to laugh because dementia will rip your heart out and you could just cry for decades if you didn’t find...
Of those three films, Dick Johnson Is Dead qualifies as the most unusual stylistically. Director Kirsten Johnson, faced with her beloved father’s cognitive decline, conceived various outlandish scenarios in which her dad might die, and then filmed them.
“The premise of the movie is that we were going to kill my father over and over again with the help of stunt people until he really died for real. Why? Because we wanted to keep bringing him back to life,” Johnson tells Deadline. “I think we desperately needed to laugh because dementia will rip your heart out and you could just cry for decades if you didn’t find...
- 3/9/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Detroit Film Critics Society (Dfcs) is pleased to announce the Best Of 2020 nominees and winners in thirteen categories. This year, due to the pandemic, the period for which a film could be released was extended through February 28, 2021. Also included this year, and not in the past, are films that streamed because they could not be theatrically released. The Dfcs was founded in Spring 2007 and consists of a group of eighteen film critics from Michigan who write or broadcast in the metro-Detroit area as well as other major cities including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Toledo, Ohio.
Each critic submitted their top 5 picks in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, and Breakthrough in any category, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best Use of Music/Sound. From these submissions, each entry...
Each critic submitted their top 5 picks in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, and Breakthrough in any category, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best Use of Music/Sound. From these submissions, each entry...
- 3/8/2021
- by Mike Tyrkus
- CinemaNerdz
In making her Academy Award-shortlisted documentary Dick Johnson is Dead, Kirsten Johnson was keen to ask questions of what cinema can do.
The filmmaker has worked for decades as cinematographer, with 50+ credit list that boasts films such as the Oscar-winning Citizen Four and Oscar-nominated The Invisible War.
In 2016, she helmed Cameraperson, an autobiographical collage that used footage from her cinematography career.
Dick Johnson is Dead is her follow up, a celebration and commemoration of her father, who has Alzheimer’s.
As Johnson tries to cope with his disease, she stages, with the assistance of stunt people, ways for her father to die. We see him get hit by a falling air conditioner, fall down a flight of stairs, and even attend his own funeral. She creates fantastical scenes of her father in heaven.
Described as a love letter between father and daughter, it was made with the hope that the...
The filmmaker has worked for decades as cinematographer, with 50+ credit list that boasts films such as the Oscar-winning Citizen Four and Oscar-nominated The Invisible War.
In 2016, she helmed Cameraperson, an autobiographical collage that used footage from her cinematography career.
Dick Johnson is Dead is her follow up, a celebration and commemoration of her father, who has Alzheimer’s.
As Johnson tries to cope with his disease, she stages, with the assistance of stunt people, ways for her father to die. We see him get hit by a falling air conditioner, fall down a flight of stairs, and even attend his own funeral. She creates fantastical scenes of her father in heaven.
Described as a love letter between father and daughter, it was made with the hope that the...
- 3/1/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Kirsten Johnson reveals why she made ‘Dick Johnson is Dead’: ‘I was running out of time with my dad’
The multi-award-winning documentary “Dick Johnson is Dead” all began with a dream. Five years ago, acclaimed cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson had a dream of seeing a man in a casket. And that man was very familiar to her — it was her widower father Dick Johnson. Her father, she recalled directing a recent Zoom conversation with noted Brazilian documentarian Petra Costa, told her, “‘I’m Dick Johnson and I’m not dead yet.’ The dream woke me up. It woke me up to the idea that I was running out of time with my dad.”
Thus, was the genesis of “Dick Johnson is Dead,” a poignant, funny, revealing and sad portrait of her relationship with her father who is descending into dementia. A decidedly non-traditional documentary, she copes with her father’s dementia by staging his death in various crazy ways-stand-ins were used for these sequences-including having an air...
Thus, was the genesis of “Dick Johnson is Dead,” a poignant, funny, revealing and sad portrait of her relationship with her father who is descending into dementia. A decidedly non-traditional documentary, she copes with her father’s dementia by staging his death in various crazy ways-stand-ins were used for these sequences-including having an air...
- 2/11/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The Oscar shortlists are out in nine categories including International Film, Documentary Feature, Music Score and Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects and Shorts. These are the first indicator of strength in the race for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards and, though the lists contain few real surprises, is especially good news for those films that are mentioned more than once.
Leading the pack with three mentions apiece are Netflix’s holiday film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, David Fincher’s Mank and Disney’s Mulan.
Films receiving two mentions each are The Little Things, One Night in Miami, Birds of Prey, The Life Ahead, The Midnight Sky, Minari, Soul, The One and Only Ivan, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Tenet. Also doubling up in both the Documentary Feature and International Feature Film categories...
Leading the pack with three mentions apiece are Netflix’s holiday film Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, David Fincher’s Mank and Disney’s Mulan.
Films receiving two mentions each are The Little Things, One Night in Miami, Birds of Prey, The Life Ahead, The Midnight Sky, Minari, Soul, The One and Only Ivan, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Tenet. Also doubling up in both the Documentary Feature and International Feature Film categories...
- 2/9/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The longlists cover all major categories following the first round of voting by the organisation’s voting members.
The Bafta Film Awards has unveiled the longlists for films in all of the major categories following the first round of voting by the organisation’s 6,700 eligible voting members.
Scroll down to see the longlists
Bafta has brought in many changes to the voting procedures this year following an in-depth investigation into membership and voting this summer prompted by last year’s nominations which were widely considered to be lacking in gender, ethnic and national diversity.
The key changes introduced on the...
The Bafta Film Awards has unveiled the longlists for films in all of the major categories following the first round of voting by the organisation’s 6,700 eligible voting members.
Scroll down to see the longlists
Bafta has brought in many changes to the voting procedures this year following an in-depth investigation into membership and voting this summer prompted by last year’s nominations which were widely considered to be lacking in gender, ethnic and national diversity.
The key changes introduced on the...
- 2/4/2021
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has unveiled “longlists” that narrow the field in 24 categories at the Ee British Academy Film Awards. The longlists were part of an overhaul of BAFTA voting procedures instituted in September to increase the diversity of nominations. Longlists existed in BAFTA voting prior to 2012 but were eliminated that year.
Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” led all films by being longlisted in 15 different categories, buoyed by four different cast members in the Best Supporting Actor category. It was followed by David Fincher’s “Mank” with 14, Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” with 13 and Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” with 12.
Other films that hit double digits included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Mauritanian” and “Saint Maud,” which were each shortlisted in 11 categories.
The lists cast a wide net, with Best Film semifinalists including everything from “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom...
Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” led all films by being longlisted in 15 different categories, buoyed by four different cast members in the Best Supporting Actor category. It was followed by David Fincher’s “Mank” with 14, Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” with 13 and Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” with 12.
Other films that hit double digits included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Mauritanian” and “Saint Maud,” which were each shortlisted in 11 categories.
The lists cast a wide net, with Best Film semifinalists including everything from “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom...
- 2/4/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
BAFTA has published the longlists for its 2021 Film Awards, which members will now whittle down to the final nominations. You can see the lists in full below, there are 15 per category for most awards, with exceptions.
These aren’t nominations, so drawing too many conclusions from them is premature at this stage. However, if a title didn’t make the cut here, it won’t be getting a nom.
A few takeaways: as per the Globes, Minari is in for foreign-language movie but not for Best Film (Another Round made both); Tenet missed both Best Film and British Film but did make Director and below-the-line categories; Spike Lee isn’t on the Director list, but Da 5 Bloods is on nine including Best Film and Screenplay; Malcolm & Marie missed everything aside from the two lead performances; zilch for On The Rocks, and fairly slim pickings for Apple in total,...
These aren’t nominations, so drawing too many conclusions from them is premature at this stage. However, if a title didn’t make the cut here, it won’t be getting a nom.
A few takeaways: as per the Globes, Minari is in for foreign-language movie but not for Best Film (Another Round made both); Tenet missed both Best Film and British Film but did make Director and below-the-line categories; Spike Lee isn’t on the Director list, but Da 5 Bloods is on nine including Best Film and Screenplay; Malcolm & Marie missed everything aside from the two lead performances; zilch for On The Rocks, and fairly slim pickings for Apple in total,...
- 2/4/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
by Jason Adams
A lot of ink, possibly pink, has already been spilled on this year's Sundance marking a flashpoint for female filmmakers. Still, women's voices at this year's fest feel dominant in a way I'm not sure they ever have before, and it strikes me that the ways we're seeing women re-working genre as a tool of dissembling trauma and male-dominance is in particular fascinating, especially as the Trump years come to their ignominious, death-rattling end...
A lot of ink, possibly pink, has already been spilled on this year's Sundance marking a flashpoint for female filmmakers. Still, women's voices at this year's fest feel dominant in a way I'm not sure they ever have before, and it strikes me that the ways we're seeing women re-working genre as a tool of dissembling trauma and male-dominance is in particular fascinating, especially as the Trump years come to their ignominious, death-rattling end...
- 2/4/2021
- by JA
- FilmExperience
The program for next month’s Australian International Documentary Conference (Aidc) has been announced, with the online event to include a strong international presence.
Comprising more than 40 sessions across four days, the conference will feature contributions from a diverse range of speakers and decision-makers.
Among the highlights are keynotes from documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney and Netflix’s VP of documentary features Lisa Nishimura.
There is also a global line-up of speakers, including David France (Welcome to Chechnya); Dick Johnson is Dead director Kirsten Johnson; managing director of Fremantle’s new unscripted television company, Naked, Fatima Salaria; Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson; two-time Emmy winning documentary creator Lynette Wallworth; artistic director and co-founder of the co-creation studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab, Katerina Cizek; and Studio Lambert’s creative director, Tim Harcourt.
Netflix VP of documentary features Lisa Nishimura.
Aidc CEO and conference director Alice Burgin, for whom the 2021 event will be her last,...
Comprising more than 40 sessions across four days, the conference will feature contributions from a diverse range of speakers and decision-makers.
Among the highlights are keynotes from documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney and Netflix’s VP of documentary features Lisa Nishimura.
There is also a global line-up of speakers, including David France (Welcome to Chechnya); Dick Johnson is Dead director Kirsten Johnson; managing director of Fremantle’s new unscripted television company, Naked, Fatima Salaria; Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson; two-time Emmy winning documentary creator Lynette Wallworth; artistic director and co-founder of the co-creation studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab, Katerina Cizek; and Studio Lambert’s creative director, Tim Harcourt.
Netflix VP of documentary features Lisa Nishimura.
Aidc CEO and conference director Alice Burgin, for whom the 2021 event will be her last,...
- 1/28/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
The Online Film Critics Society (Ofcs) has revealed its annual Top Ten List as well as winners of its film awards which was topped by Nomadland. In addition, The Chloé Zhao American wanderlust drama was named Best Picture. Also on the list is Pixar’s Soul which was also named Best Animated Feature.
“This list of nominations showcases the diversity and broad expressiveness of the film community,” said Wesley Lovell, a member of the Governing Committee of Ofcs, and founder of CinemaSight.com. “In a year where nothing was as we expected, and those expectations had to shift, cinema not only maintained its creativity and expansive canvas, but it managed to give new voices a chance to speak louder than they might have in any other year.”
He added, “In our directing category alone, we have four women, each at varying points in their careers, alongside one of the major voices of his generation.
“This list of nominations showcases the diversity and broad expressiveness of the film community,” said Wesley Lovell, a member of the Governing Committee of Ofcs, and founder of CinemaSight.com. “In a year where nothing was as we expected, and those expectations had to shift, cinema not only maintained its creativity and expansive canvas, but it managed to give new voices a chance to speak louder than they might have in any other year.”
He added, “In our directing category alone, we have four women, each at varying points in their careers, alongside one of the major voices of his generation.
- 1/25/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The Oscars Best Documentary Feature race, which set a new record for entries in December when it passed the previous record of 170, has now left all previous years in the dust with 240 eligible films.
An additional 25 documentary features were placed in the members-only online screening room devoted to the category on Saturday, in what the Academy told voters would be “the final batch” of this year’s entries. It was the last of seven groups of documentaries that qualified and were placed into the screening room: 25 in July, 12 in August, 16 in September, 33 in October, 36 in November, a huge group of 93 in December and now 25 in January.
Academy rules put in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic made it easier than usual for documentaries to qualify for the Oscars this year, which opened the door for a field that obliterated the previous record, which was set in 2017. Films could qualify simply...
An additional 25 documentary features were placed in the members-only online screening room devoted to the category on Saturday, in what the Academy told voters would be “the final batch” of this year’s entries. It was the last of seven groups of documentaries that qualified and were placed into the screening room: 25 in July, 12 in August, 16 in September, 33 in October, 36 in November, a huge group of 93 in December and now 25 in January.
Academy rules put in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic made it easier than usual for documentaries to qualify for the Oscars this year, which opened the door for a field that obliterated the previous record, which was set in 2017. Films could qualify simply...
- 1/17/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Films by writer-directors Rose Glass, Sarah Gavron, Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell earned the most nominations for the 41st London Critics‘ Circle Film Awards, which will be presented virtually in early February. Scroll down for full list of nominees.
Glass’ dramatic horror Saint Maud was out front with eight nominations, including Film, Director, Screenwriter, Actress (Morfydd Clark) and Supporting Actress (Jennifer Ehle). In addition, the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year, and Clark is nominated for British/Irish Actress, a body-of-work award that includes her appearance in Eternal Beauty.
Other leading contenders include Sarah Gavron’s London coming-of-age story Rocks with six nominations, Chloé Zhao’s improvised American road movie Nomadland with five, and Emerald Fennell’s provocative blackly comical thriller Promising Young Woman with four.
Also earning four nominations were David Fincher’s Hollywood biopic Mank and Steve McQueen’s house-party drama Lovers Rock. McQueen...
Glass’ dramatic horror Saint Maud was out front with eight nominations, including Film, Director, Screenwriter, Actress (Morfydd Clark) and Supporting Actress (Jennifer Ehle). In addition, the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year, and Clark is nominated for British/Irish Actress, a body-of-work award that includes her appearance in Eternal Beauty.
Other leading contenders include Sarah Gavron’s London coming-of-age story Rocks with six nominations, Chloé Zhao’s improvised American road movie Nomadland with five, and Emerald Fennell’s provocative blackly comical thriller Promising Young Woman with four.
Also earning four nominations were David Fincher’s Hollywood biopic Mank and Steve McQueen’s house-party drama Lovers Rock. McQueen...
- 1/12/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Dick Johnson Is Dead director Kirsten Johnson has become all too familiar with the devastating impact of dementia. In 2007, her mother died of Alzheimer’s.
“Dementia will rip your heart out,” she says at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event, “and you could just cry for decades if you didn’t find a way to laugh at it.”
When her father, too, began to exhibit signs of dementia, Johnson resolved to process the possibility of losing him with paradoxical humor, the lightest of touches in a grave situation. The result became her award-winning documentary for Netflix in which she—improbably—films imagined scenarios in which her dad meets his end.
“The premise of the movie is that we were going to kill my father over and over again with the help of stunt people until he really died for real,” Johnson says. “Why? Why? Because we wanted to keep bringing him back to life.
“Dementia will rip your heart out,” she says at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event, “and you could just cry for decades if you didn’t find a way to laugh at it.”
When her father, too, began to exhibit signs of dementia, Johnson resolved to process the possibility of losing him with paradoxical humor, the lightest of touches in a grave situation. The result became her award-winning documentary for Netflix in which she—improbably—films imagined scenarios in which her dad meets his end.
“The premise of the movie is that we were going to kill my father over and over again with the help of stunt people until he really died for real,” Johnson says. “Why? Why? Because we wanted to keep bringing him back to life.
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
While it’s annoying to hear people declare that there were “no great films this year” under any circumstances, it’s even more outrageous in 2020 when put into context. Why? Because what we lost during this pandemic wasn’t what’s indelible to the cinematic artform. Seeing theaters close (some permanently) is a horrible tragedy that may reshape how we consume our favorite medium moving forward, but it didn’t destroy the content, creativity, or genius of the product itself. It may have conversely worked to expand our access (via virtual cinemas in support of local theaters and online film festivals moving beyond geographical borders) and prove what it is film fans truly crave: quality over quantity.
What then are those people talking about? What titles did we lose? There are a few that exist on the edge of critical acclaim and box office profits (see A24 holding back three...
What then are those people talking about? What titles did we lose? There are a few that exist on the edge of critical acclaim and box office profits (see A24 holding back three...
- 1/4/2021
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Another critics group has weighed in today, as the precursor season continues. This one is the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and their nominees highlighted a contender that’s currently doing a bit better than expected. It’s Spike Lee’s movie Da 5 Bloods, which some worried would get lost in the shuffle among Netflix awards contenders. In fact, it’s arguably doing better than any, showing up enough so far to give Delroy Lindo a boost in Best Actor and Chadwick Boseman a potential double nomination with a citation in Best Supporting Actor. It’s early days still, but Lee’s flick is doing very well. Read on below for all of the nominees out of North Carolina… Here now are the Ncfca nominations: Best Narrative Film Da 5 Bloods Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman The Trial of the Chicago 7 Best Documentary Film All In: The Fight for...
- 12/28/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
From The Father to Dick Johnson Is Dead to Falling to Minari, 2020 has been an exemplary year for films exploring all facets of fatherhood. Premiering at Slamdance Film Festival earlier this year and now arriving in Virtual Cinemas next month, another poignant entry in this category is Lynne Sachs’ documentary Film About a Father Who. Featuring materials shot over a period of 35 years between 1984 and 2019 by Sachs herself, the film explores her father Ira Sachs Sr., a bon vivant and pioneering businessman from Park City, Utah, which leads to many unexpected discoveries. Set for a nationwide Virtual Cinema release beginning on January 15, Museum of Moving Image will also hold a a director retrospective that features five programs in their Virtual Cinema, from January 13-31.
Jared Mobarak said in his Slamdance Film Festival review earlier this year, “While director Lynne Sachs admits her latest documentary Film About a Father Who could...
Jared Mobarak said in his Slamdance Film Festival review earlier this year, “While director Lynne Sachs admits her latest documentary Film About a Father Who could...
- 12/23/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Cinema Eye Honors (Ceh) announced the nominees for its 14th annual awards on December 10, raising the profile of three contenders in the Documentary Feature Oscar derby. Garrett Bradley‘s “Time,” Victor Kossakovsky‘s “Gunda,” and Alexander Nanau‘s “Collective” all reaped bids for Best Documentary Feature, Direction and Editing.
“Time” leads the Ceh’s nominees with six overall, including Debut, Score and Audience Choice. “Gunda” added Cinematography to its tally for four overall, equal to the four for “Collective” which added Production. The other two films nominated for Feature are Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss‘s “Boys State” and Kirsten Johnson‘s “Dick Johnson Is Dead.”
In the last five years the group has matched with the academy’s documentary branch on three nominees, including a nomination and win last year for the eventual Oscar champ “American Factory.” With that precedent in mind, we might expect three of Ceh’s...
“Time” leads the Ceh’s nominees with six overall, including Debut, Score and Audience Choice. “Gunda” added Cinematography to its tally for four overall, equal to the four for “Collective” which added Production. The other two films nominated for Feature are Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss‘s “Boys State” and Kirsten Johnson‘s “Dick Johnson Is Dead.”
In the last five years the group has matched with the academy’s documentary branch on three nominees, including a nomination and win last year for the eventual Oscar champ “American Factory.” With that precedent in mind, we might expect three of Ceh’s...
- 12/11/2020
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
One of the most esteemed film journalism outlets, BFI’s Sight & Sound, have delivered their list of the 50 best films of 2020. Topping the chart is Steve McQueen’s euphoric Lovers Rock, marking his second #1 ranking after Hunger.
As for the rest of the top 10, it’s dominated by female filmmakers, with 7 entries directed by women, including their #2 entry, and my personal favorite film of the year: Garrett Bradley’s Time. New films by Kelly Reichardt, Charlie Kaufman, Kirsten Johnson, Eliza Hittman, Tsai Ming-liang, and more round out the rest of the top 10.
Check out the top 20 below, followed by a link to the full top 50.
1. Lovers Rock (Dir. Steve McQueen)
2. Time (Dir. Garrett Bradley)
3. First Cow (Dir. Kelly Reichardt)
4. I’M Thinking Of Ending Things (Dir. Charlie Kaufman)
5. Saint Maud (Dir. Rose Glass)
6. Dick Johnson Is Dead (Dir. Kirsten Johnson)
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Dir. Eliza Hittman)
8. Nomadland (Dir. Chloe Zhao)
9. Rocks (Dir.
As for the rest of the top 10, it’s dominated by female filmmakers, with 7 entries directed by women, including their #2 entry, and my personal favorite film of the year: Garrett Bradley’s Time. New films by Kelly Reichardt, Charlie Kaufman, Kirsten Johnson, Eliza Hittman, Tsai Ming-liang, and more round out the rest of the top 10.
Check out the top 20 below, followed by a link to the full top 50.
1. Lovers Rock (Dir. Steve McQueen)
2. Time (Dir. Garrett Bradley)
3. First Cow (Dir. Kelly Reichardt)
4. I’M Thinking Of Ending Things (Dir. Charlie Kaufman)
5. Saint Maud (Dir. Rose Glass)
6. Dick Johnson Is Dead (Dir. Kirsten Johnson)
7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Dir. Eliza Hittman)
8. Nomadland (Dir. Chloe Zhao)
9. Rocks (Dir.
- 12/11/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” which follows a family through decades of the father’s incarceration, leads all films in nominations for the 14th annual Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based award established to honor all facets of nonfiction filmmaking.
“Time” received six nominations, including one in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category. There, it will compete with “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” and “Gunda.”
“Collective,” “Gunda” and “Welcome to Chechnya” each received four nominations, while “Boys State,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” “Notturno” and “The Truffle Hunters” landed three each.
“Time” is now the only film to be nominated in the top category by the Cinema Eye Honors, the IDA Documentary Awards, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards, and also receive a spot on Doc NYC’s “Short List” of awards contenders. “Gunda” was honored by four of the five groups,...
“Time” received six nominations, including one in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category. There, it will compete with “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” and “Gunda.”
“Collective,” “Gunda” and “Welcome to Chechnya” each received four nominations, while “Boys State,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” “Notturno” and “The Truffle Hunters” landed three each.
“Time” is now the only film to be nominated in the top category by the Cinema Eye Honors, the IDA Documentary Awards, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards, and also receive a spot on Doc NYC’s “Short List” of awards contenders. “Gunda” was honored by four of the five groups,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Dick Johnson is very much alive in “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” which is one of the many meta qualities in this documentary by Kirsten Johnson. The film provides an unusually touching portrait of Johnson’s father and his slide into dementia, but it’s hardly a sentimental journey. Johnson developed a knack for risk-taking during her decades-long career as a documentary cinematographer (as recounted in her own 2016 doc “Cameraperson”) and here she concocts onscreen various ways her father could die.
The film, Johnson told TheWrap, “is me saying, ‘So I’m going to kill my father and laugh about it because I desperately don’t want him to die.'” In one scene, he trips down the stairs, and in another, he is struck by a falling air conditioner while walking down the street. What emerges is a confrontation with death — specifically the loss of a parent — that grows more...
The film, Johnson told TheWrap, “is me saying, ‘So I’m going to kill my father and laugh about it because I desperately don’t want him to die.'” In one scene, he trips down the stairs, and in another, he is struck by a falling air conditioner while walking down the street. What emerges is a confrontation with death — specifically the loss of a parent — that grows more...
- 12/8/2020
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
It's the fifth year since the Critics Choice Awards spun off their documentary honors until a whole sidebar awards. I personally abstain from these as I don't see enough documentaries. Our doc corner guru Glenn Dunks would be an ideal voter, though. If he wrote about these winning films, there's a link. The big winners were Dick Johnson is Dead with the two top wins and an additional honor and My Octopus Teacher with two wins as well. The full list of wins is after the jump...
- 11/16/2020
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Chris and Mike are taking it easy this week, but Justin and guest host, Matt Ward, are keeping the fires burning with more movie talk! This week, returning guest Matt Ward and Justin review the Orson Welles classic, Citizen Kane. However, before they get into the main review, they also talk Never Rarely Sometimes Always, […]
The post The Casual Cinecast Talks Dick Johnson is Dead and Citizen Kane appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
The post The Casual Cinecast Talks Dick Johnson is Dead and Citizen Kane appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
- 11/16/2020
- by Jordan Maison
- Cinelinx
A super-crowded documentary field means that many are called and few are chosen. And critics carry more sway than ever in this pandemic year, helping to cull the long list of would-be awards contenders. Every win from whatever source helps to turn a movie into a must-see.
Thus Monday’s fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Award winners — which recognize the year’s achievements in documentaries released in theaters, on TV and on digital platforms, for which I voted in several categories — push Best Documentary Feature “Dick Johnson Is Dead” (Netflix) and its Best Director Kirsten Johnson into the lead for the Oscar shortlist of 15, which the Academy will announce on February 9, 2021.
Netflix dominated the field with six wins, including “Dick Johnson is Dead,” popular hit “My Octopus Teacher,” which took home Best Cinematography and Best Science/Nature Documentary, Best Narration winner “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” and, with “Athlete A,...
Thus Monday’s fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Award winners — which recognize the year’s achievements in documentaries released in theaters, on TV and on digital platforms, for which I voted in several categories — push Best Documentary Feature “Dick Johnson Is Dead” (Netflix) and its Best Director Kirsten Johnson into the lead for the Oscar shortlist of 15, which the Academy will announce on February 9, 2021.
Netflix dominated the field with six wins, including “Dick Johnson is Dead,” popular hit “My Octopus Teacher,” which took home Best Cinematography and Best Science/Nature Documentary, Best Narration winner “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” and, with “Athlete A,...
- 11/16/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Today, the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Awards were handed out. The fifth annual non-fiction offshoot of the Critics Choice Awards, it’s obviously given out by the Critics Choice Association, of which I’m a member. As such, I did vote on these awards (including for some of the winners), but regardless of that, the crop of honorees is really top-notch. Sure, there were some snubs, like Miss Americana and Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You, but largely, this is a terrific batch of nominees, which in turn became a great group of winners. The biggest award went to Dick Johnson is Dead, which took home Best Documentary Feature, as well as Best Director for Kirsten Johnson. All of the winners can be found below… Here is the press release: – The Critics Choice Association (Cca) has unveiled the winners of the fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which recognize the year...
- 11/16/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Dick Johnson Is Dead, Netflix’s personal documentary exploring a daughter’s look into the decline of her aging father, took top honors from the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards for Best Documentary Feature as well as Best Director for Kirsten Johnson.
The awards, which were spread out among several winners, saw no single docu dominate, and in fact another Netflix film, My Octopus Teacher, was the only other film to win more than one trophy, taking Best Science/Nature Docu and Best Cinematography.
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and Gunda had led nominations with five each but were shut out. Mr. Soul! which also had five noms, did take Best First Documentary Feature. Among other significant winners were John Lewis: Good Trouble for Best Historical/Biographical docu, and Apple TV+’s Boys State as Best Political Documentary.
“We couldn’t be more excited about being able to celebrate such a...
The awards, which were spread out among several winners, saw no single docu dominate, and in fact another Netflix film, My Octopus Teacher, was the only other film to win more than one trophy, taking Best Science/Nature Docu and Best Cinematography.
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and Gunda had led nominations with five each but were shut out. Mr. Soul! which also had five noms, did take Best First Documentary Feature. Among other significant winners were John Lewis: Good Trouble for Best Historical/Biographical docu, and Apple TV+’s Boys State as Best Political Documentary.
“We couldn’t be more excited about being able to celebrate such a...
- 11/16/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced the 2020 winners Monday morning, honoring “Dick Johnson Is Dead” for best documentary feature as well as the film’s Kirsten Johnson for best director.
The film focuses on Richard Johnson, the director’s father, who suffers from dementia and imagines different ways in which he could die with a darkly comedic tone. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and won the special jury award for innovation in non-fiction storytelling.
“My Octopus Teacher” took home two awards for best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Like most award shows this year, the Critics Choice Doc Awards had to go virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We couldn’t be more excited about being able to celebrate such a diverse group of films and filmmakers and subjects this year of all years, on the fifth occasion of the CCDAs, and with 2020 being what it is,...
The film focuses on Richard Johnson, the director’s father, who suffers from dementia and imagines different ways in which he could die with a darkly comedic tone. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and won the special jury award for innovation in non-fiction storytelling.
“My Octopus Teacher” took home two awards for best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Like most award shows this year, the Critics Choice Doc Awards had to go virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We couldn’t be more excited about being able to celebrate such a diverse group of films and filmmakers and subjects this year of all years, on the fifth occasion of the CCDAs, and with 2020 being what it is,...
- 11/16/2020
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
“Dick Johnson is Dead” won both Best Documentary Feature and Best Director (Kirsten Johnson) at the fifth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. This Netflix film came into the competition with four bids; it lost the cinematography race to another Netflix title, “My Octopus Teacher,” and thee narration award to “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet.” “The Way I See It” won for score while “Totally Under Control” took editing. See the full list of Ccda winners announced on November 16 below.
The six genre prizes were awarded as follows: “MLK/FBI” (Best Archival Documentary); “John Lewis: Good Trouble” (Best Historical/Biographical Documentary); both “Beastie Boys Story” and “The Go-Go’s” (Best Music Documentary); “Boys State” (Best Political Documentary”); “My Octopus Teacher” (Best Science/Nature Documentary); and both “Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes” and “Athlete A” (Best Sports Documentary).
The Shoes in the Bed title “Mr. Soul!” won one of its...
The six genre prizes were awarded as follows: “MLK/FBI” (Best Archival Documentary); “John Lewis: Good Trouble” (Best Historical/Biographical Documentary); both “Beastie Boys Story” and “The Go-Go’s” (Best Music Documentary); “Boys State” (Best Political Documentary”); “My Octopus Teacher” (Best Science/Nature Documentary); and both “Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes” and “Athlete A” (Best Sports Documentary).
The Shoes in the Bed title “Mr. Soul!” won one of its...
- 11/16/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Kirsten Johnson’s playful “Dick Johnson Is Dead” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2020 at the fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were announced on Monday morning.
Johnson also won the Best Director award for her Netflix film, in which she deals with the impending death of her father by staging his death in a variety of ways.
Melissa Haizlip won the Best First Documentary Feature award for “Mr. Soul!,” while other awards went to “My Octopus Teacher” for cinematography, “Totally Under Control” for editing, “The Way I See It” for music and “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet” for narration.
“MLK/FBI” was named Best Archival Documentary, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” Best Historical/Biographical Documentary, “Boys State” Best Political Documentary” and “My Octopus Teacher” Best Science/Nature Documentary.
There were two ties: “Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes” and “Athlete A” tied in the Best Sports Documentary category,...
Johnson also won the Best Director award for her Netflix film, in which she deals with the impending death of her father by staging his death in a variety of ways.
Melissa Haizlip won the Best First Documentary Feature award for “Mr. Soul!,” while other awards went to “My Octopus Teacher” for cinematography, “Totally Under Control” for editing, “The Way I See It” for music and “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet” for narration.
“MLK/FBI” was named Best Archival Documentary, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” Best Historical/Biographical Documentary, “Boys State” Best Political Documentary” and “My Octopus Teacher” Best Science/Nature Documentary.
There were two ties: “Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes” and “Athlete A” tied in the Best Sports Documentary category,...
- 11/16/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The winners of the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Awards were unveiled Monday morning, with Dick Johnson is Dead taking the top prize of best documentary feature as well as best director for Kirsten Johnson.
The other film winning two awards is My Octopus Teacher, which won best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Mr. Soul!, which scored five nominations, won best first documentary feature. Crip Camp, from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company, also scored five nominations but didn’t win any awards.
Dick Johnson is Dead, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, features the younger Johnson filming her aging father ...
The other film winning two awards is My Octopus Teacher, which won best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Mr. Soul!, which scored five nominations, won best first documentary feature. Crip Camp, from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company, also scored five nominations but didn’t win any awards.
Dick Johnson is Dead, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, features the younger Johnson filming her aging father ...
- 11/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The winners of the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Awards were unveiled Monday morning, with Dick Johnson is Dead taking the top prize of best documentary feature as well as best director for Kirsten Johnson.
The other film winning two awards is My Octopus Teacher, which won best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Mr. Soul!, which scored five nominations, won best first documentary feature. Crip Camp, from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company, also scored five nominations but didn’t win any awards.
Dick Johnson is Dead, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, features the younger Johnson filming her aging father ...
The other film winning two awards is My Octopus Teacher, which won best cinematography and best science/nature documentary.
Mr. Soul!, which scored five nominations, won best first documentary feature. Crip Camp, from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company, also scored five nominations but didn’t win any awards.
Dick Johnson is Dead, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, features the younger Johnson filming her aging father ...
- 11/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Crip Camp,” “Gunda” and “Time” are among the films that have made Doc NYC’s 2020 “Short List,” an annual attempt by the New York-based festival to identify the nonfiction films most likely to play a significant part in awards season.
Those three films were also included in the Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations for Best Documentary Feature, and on the International Documentary Association’s shortlist from which the Ida chooses nominees for the Ida Documentary Awards. They are the only three movies to land on all three lists.
Nine additional films on the Doc NYC list were also singled out either by the Ida or Critics Choice: “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “The Fight,” “MLK/FBI,” “76 Days,” “The Social Dilemma,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”
Other films on the Doc NYC list, which is made up of 15 documentaries, are “I Am Greta,” “On the Record” and “A Thousand Cuts.
Those three films were also included in the Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations for Best Documentary Feature, and on the International Documentary Association’s shortlist from which the Ida chooses nominees for the Ida Documentary Awards. They are the only three movies to land on all three lists.
Nine additional films on the Doc NYC list were also singled out either by the Ida or Critics Choice: “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “The Fight,” “MLK/FBI,” “76 Days,” “The Social Dilemma,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”
Other films on the Doc NYC list, which is made up of 15 documentaries, are “I Am Greta,” “On the Record” and “A Thousand Cuts.
- 11/9/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
One of the most devastating things to witness is the disappearance of a parent due to dementia or Alzheimer’s. The change generally begins slowly with confusion and forgetfulness. They may lose their way driving home from the store. They stop reading and may even become obsessed with a person or a TV series. And then their personality begins to change; they are quick to anger and cry in frustration. Soon, they can’t operate the phone or even know how to tell time. They have hallucinations and forget to eat. They just fade away.
See‘Athlete A’ could be the next sports scandal documentary to vault into Oscar contention
Thanks to his daughter, documentarian Kristen Johnson (“Cameraperson”), Dick Johnson will never disappear. “Dick Johnson is Dead,” her love letter to her octogenarian widowed dad is a wildly imaginative, funny, poignant and haunting look at her coping with her father...
See‘Athlete A’ could be the next sports scandal documentary to vault into Oscar contention
Thanks to his daughter, documentarian Kristen Johnson (“Cameraperson”), Dick Johnson will never disappear. “Dick Johnson is Dead,” her love letter to her octogenarian widowed dad is a wildly imaginative, funny, poignant and haunting look at her coping with her father...
- 11/5/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Powerful, deeply affecting films, from Relic to Dick Johnson Is Dead, are dispensing with worthiness and restraint to present the illness in a more robust and truthful way
I’ve yet to see a film that sufficiently gets to the heart of what it means to watch a loved one lose their mind to dementia. Those that have garnered attention and awards over the years, while incredibly affecting, are suffused with a worthiness or restraint that somehow neglects the dementia that I have witnessed. There are some notable exceptions: Michael Haneke’s Amour and Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages do well to convey the more savage aspects of the disease. But, on the whole, films dealing in dementia – an umbrella term that relates to the decline of brain function, interfering with memory, mental acuity, movement, spatial awareness, language and everyday activities such as making a cup of tea or buttoning up a cardigan – have felt lacking.
I’ve yet to see a film that sufficiently gets to the heart of what it means to watch a loved one lose their mind to dementia. Those that have garnered attention and awards over the years, while incredibly affecting, are suffused with a worthiness or restraint that somehow neglects the dementia that I have witnessed. There are some notable exceptions: Michael Haneke’s Amour and Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages do well to convey the more savage aspects of the disease. But, on the whole, films dealing in dementia – an umbrella term that relates to the decline of brain function, interfering with memory, mental acuity, movement, spatial awareness, language and everyday activities such as making a cup of tea or buttoning up a cardigan – have felt lacking.
- 11/5/2020
- by Nicole Davis
- The Guardian - Film News
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