One of the foremost critical thinkers of the international documentary ecosystem, Leonard Cortana was tapped by EURODOC program head Nora Philippe in 2023 to manage the inclusion program and strategic partnerships. The resulting program, BIPOC EURODOC, hosts bi-monthly member meetings and monthly public webinars with outside experts to support the ongoing education of its members. The task force also conducts focus groups to inform white papers like this recent study on film festival delegations, in partnership with the #Docsafe initiative. Speaking on Zoom from Mexico City, Cortana spoke with Documentary about the goals of BIPOC EURODOC, the politics of film festival delegations, and why post-screening Q&As are “an extremely unsafe space.”
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Documentary is happy to debut the trailer for Peter McDowell’s first feature, Jimmy in Saigon (2024) . The film premiered last year at BFI Flare before a robust festival run, especially at LGBTQ film festivals. It will open at the Cinema Village NY on April 25 and at Laemmle theaters in LA starting May 8, before a VOD release on May 13 through distributor Dark Star Pictures. Pic is produced by McDowell, Lucia Palmarini, and Peter Schulman. Executive producers include Dan Savage. Jimmy in Saigon begins as a personal exploration into the mysterious death and radical life of Jimmy McDowell, an
Congratulations to the five IDA grantees who have premieres at Hot Docs 2025.
With The Encampments, directors Kei Pritsker and Michael Workman forge a counter-narrative to the mainstream media. Embedded with the encampment at Columbia University, which became a particular focal point in this controversy, they let the students speak for themselves. The Encampments pulled in the largest single-theater opening ever for a documentary (it was also the second-highest opening PTA) before expanding to over 50 markets last weekend. Amid the film’s early theatrical success, we sat down with Pritsker over Zoom to discuss the making of the film, its context in current political events, and adjusting the distribution timetable.
The narrative content division of independent music rights company Concord develops unique fare in a sea of music documentaries: Although any project about Stax Records or featuring their music would legally and logistically require Concord to be involved, 'Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.' is unique in that it actually originated from the company itself. Officially launched in 2021, Concord Originals produces and develops projects based upon the million copyrights the company owns and represents, such as the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and Cyndi Lauper.
Today, Peace Is Loud and UFO announce the Peace is Loud x UFO Post/Impact Residency, which combines more traditional residency perks of a post-production workspace and support with impact strategizing. The pilot residency went to Wood Street, directed by Caron Creighton, which “follows members of Oakland’s Wood Street homeless encampment as they organize against dual evictions from both the city and state.”
Shot over three years, Flophouse America is the unflinching debut feature by Norwegian photographer-turned-filmmaker Monica Strømdahl. The documentary offers an intimate, often harrowing portrait of Mikal, a boy growing up in a crumbling motel alongside his parents, Jason and Tonya, both trapped in cycles of addiction and poverty. In her conversation with Documentary Magazine, Strømdahl reflects on the ethical challenges of filming such vulnerable subjects over an extended period, the responsibility she felt toward Mikal and his family, and how her background in photography shaped the film’s aesthetic. With Flophouse America, she not only delivers a powerful creative statement but also raises urgent questions about systemic neglect, resilience, and the role of the documentary filmmaker as both witness and storyteller.
I have been producing projects with director Dylan Sires since 2017. Our latest project, 'ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing' (2024), is an Amazon Original documentary about Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar, aka “ChiefsAholic,” who rose to fame with his social media antics. But a secret life came to light when he was arrested, unraveling a series of unsolved bank robberies committed across the Midwest. ChiefsAholic was the first time we were given money to develop something—US$60,000, in fact. That only covered two weeks to capture enough of the story that we could use to sell. It was naive of us to think that having a budget made things any easier. At the time of writing, 'ChiefsAholic' carried a U.S. number one position on Amazon Prime for four days and generated a wild response from true crime fanatics and Chiefs Kingdom.
The International Documentary Association (IDA) and five other venerable filmmaker support organizations are deeply concerned by the news that DOGE is immediately cutting U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities grant programs. The NEH’s vital support of documentaries in the U.S. includes the NEH Media Projects grant program and documentary funding grants from many U.S. state humanities councils. For decades, they provided meaningful arts programming for general audiences, bridging scholarly research, documentary-making, and the public. Since Wednesday, we have received reports of dozens of grant terminations from filmmakers, affecting their ability to pay contracted crew and deliver quality programs for audiences all over the U.S.
In 2024, 7 million livestock died in Mongolia due to what some say was the country’s harshest winter on record. Australian filmmaker Kasimir Burgess witnessed the disaster firsthand while making his third feature documentary, Iron Winter. The film documents two young herders, Batbold and Tsagaanaa, upholding a rural Mongolian tradition of winter herding—protecting horses from severe dzud and wolves by amassing them by the thousands and migrating for several months in search of better pastures. Ahead of its world premiere, over a video call Burgess shared with Documentary the appeal of the winter herding story, the challenges involved in telling it, and his hopes for what audiences take away from the film.