Exclusive: Justin Lin has rounded out the cast for his next film Last Days with five additions: Toby Wallace (Babyteeth), Ciara Bravo (Cherry), Claire Price (The Capture), Dieudonné Ngabo (Forever) and Marny Kennedy (Between Two Worlds).
As previously announced, Sky Yang, Radhika Apte, Naveen Andrews and Ken Leung will also star.
Based on the Outside Magazine article “The Last Days of John Allen Chau” by journalist Alex Perry, the film tells the story of John Allen Chau, who believes he has been chosen to save the souls of the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island. Designated as a protected site by the Indian government, John sets on a harrowing journey to proselytize the Sentinelese in his desperate search for identity, purpose, and belonging.
Written by Ben Ripley (Source Code), and marking a return to his indie roots for Lin following work on the Fast & Furious franchise, the film has...
As previously announced, Sky Yang, Radhika Apte, Naveen Andrews and Ken Leung will also star.
Based on the Outside Magazine article “The Last Days of John Allen Chau” by journalist Alex Perry, the film tells the story of John Allen Chau, who believes he has been chosen to save the souls of the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island. Designated as a protected site by the Indian government, John sets on a harrowing journey to proselytize the Sentinelese in his desperate search for identity, purpose, and belonging.
Written by Ben Ripley (Source Code), and marking a return to his indie roots for Lin following work on the Fast & Furious franchise, the film has...
- 5/17/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Radhika Apte (Sister Midnight), Naveen Andrews (The Dropout) and Ken Leung (Avatar: The Last Airbender) have signed on to star opposite the previously announced Sky Yang in Last Days, the next film from the Fast & Furious franchise’s Justin Lin.
Based on the Outside Magazine article The Last Days of John Allen Chau by journalist Alex Perry, this is the story of John Allen Chau, who believes he has been chosen to save the souls of the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island. Designated as a protected site by the Indian government, John sets on a harrowing journey to proselytize the Sentinelese in his desperate search for identity, purpose, and belonging.
Written by Ben Ripley (Source Code), and marking Lin’s return to his indie roots, the film has just kicked off production in Thailand. In addition to directing, Lin is producing through his Perfect Storm Entertainment, overseen...
Based on the Outside Magazine article The Last Days of John Allen Chau by journalist Alex Perry, this is the story of John Allen Chau, who believes he has been chosen to save the souls of the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island. Designated as a protected site by the Indian government, John sets on a harrowing journey to proselytize the Sentinelese in his desperate search for identity, purpose, and belonging.
Written by Ben Ripley (Source Code), and marking Lin’s return to his indie roots, the film has just kicked off production in Thailand. In addition to directing, Lin is producing through his Perfect Storm Entertainment, overseen...
- 5/15/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The Mission tells the story of John Chau, a missionary who in 2018 attempted to bring Christianity to the indigenous people of remote North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal. The Sentinelese killed him for intruding.
Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine said they discovered that Chau’s story was as influenced by adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Tintin as it was the Scripture.
“John was possessed of two faiths,” Moss said at Deadline Contenders Film: Documentary. “Charting both of those faiths in our story, we discovered that the film was a reflection of our own history.”
Chau discovered missions work at Oral Roberts University. The university had safe work, but Chau soon grew hungry for riskier endeavors.
Related: Deadline’s Contenders Documentary – Full Coverage
“I think it became his hunger for adventure to test himself put him on this more dangerous course,” Moss said.
McBaine said Chau believed...
Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine said they discovered that Chau’s story was as influenced by adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Tintin as it was the Scripture.
“John was possessed of two faiths,” Moss said at Deadline Contenders Film: Documentary. “Charting both of those faiths in our story, we discovered that the film was a reflection of our own history.”
Chau discovered missions work at Oral Roberts University. The university had safe work, but Chau soon grew hungry for riskier endeavors.
Related: Deadline’s Contenders Documentary – Full Coverage
“I think it became his hunger for adventure to test himself put him on this more dangerous course,” Moss said.
McBaine said Chau believed...
- 12/10/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
Apple Original Films has prevailed in a bidding war for Two for the Money, a heist thriller package to star Academy Award winner Charlize Theron and former Bond franchise star Daniel Craig, which has the Fast & Furious franchise’s Justin Lin aboard to direct and produce.
In the film based on an original idea by Lin and his Fast X co-writer Dan Mazeau, Theron and Craig will play career thieves whose relationship spans the course of three big jobs. Pic is being developed by Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment, Theron’s Denver & Delilah banner, and Jeff Kirschebaum and Joe Roth’s Rk Films, with Apple Studios serving as the studio. The producers are Theron for Denver & Delilah, Lin for Perfect Storm, and Kirschenbaum and Roth produce for Rk Films.
The project comes following Lin’s work, not only with Mazeau, but also with Theron and Rk Films on Fast X,...
In the film based on an original idea by Lin and his Fast X co-writer Dan Mazeau, Theron and Craig will play career thieves whose relationship spans the course of three big jobs. Pic is being developed by Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment, Theron’s Denver & Delilah banner, and Jeff Kirschebaum and Joe Roth’s Rk Films, with Apple Studios serving as the studio. The producers are Theron for Denver & Delilah, Lin for Perfect Storm, and Kirschenbaum and Roth produce for Rk Films.
The project comes following Lin’s work, not only with Mazeau, but also with Theron and Rk Films on Fast X,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
After Yang (kogonada)
I had the pleasure to speak with filmmaker kogonada about his stirring treatise on mortality, After Yang, and the moment from that conversation I return to most is him saying that “what makes art so invigorating is that you’re pursuing the ineffable.” This is a notion seeded throughout his gentle, transcendent sophomore feature. We can never truly know another person. In some ways, we will never fully know ourselves or our relationship with the world. But the search for it, the mystery, the endless pursuit—that’s the beauty of life. – Mitchell B.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
A Disturbance in the Force (Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak)
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In a thought-provoking and somber exploration, “The Mission” takes center stage on National Geographic at 10:00 Pm on Thursday, December 7, 2023. This gripping episode delves into the tragic story of American missionary John Chau, whose quest to make contact with an Indigenous group off the coast of India ended in his untimely death.
The documentary sheds light on Chau’s attempt to reach one of the last communities on Earth still living in isolation, a group untouched by the modern world. Viewers can anticipate a deep dive into the complexities surrounding missionary work, cultural preservation, and the ethical dilemmas inherent in such endeavors.
“The Mission” promises to be a poignant exploration of human ambition, cultural sensitivity, and the consequences of attempting to bridge worlds that exist in isolation. As National Geographic unravels this gripping narrative, audiences are invited to reflect on the impact of such missions and the delicate balance between...
The documentary sheds light on Chau’s attempt to reach one of the last communities on Earth still living in isolation, a group untouched by the modern world. Viewers can anticipate a deep dive into the complexities surrounding missionary work, cultural preservation, and the ethical dilemmas inherent in such endeavors.
“The Mission” promises to be a poignant exploration of human ambition, cultural sensitivity, and the consequences of attempting to bridge worlds that exist in isolation. As National Geographic unravels this gripping narrative, audiences are invited to reflect on the impact of such missions and the delicate balance between...
- 11/30/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
IndieWire’s longtime commitment to highlighting boundary-pushing documentary filmmaking reached new heights this fall during the inaugural Art of the Doc screening series. Presented in partnership with National Geographic, Art of the Doc showcased six of the best nonfiction films of 2023 at the Landmark Westwood in Los Angeles. Each screening featured in-person conversations with filmmakers and documentary subjects moderated by IndieWire editors.
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
“Our editors gave careful consideration in selecting these films for our inaugural screening series, Art of the Doc,” IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson said in a statement announcing the series. “We’re excited to have the in-person opportunity to share IndieWire’s perspective with the work of great filmmakers.”
“We’re thrilled to be launching our first documentary screening series with our partner National Geographic,” said IndieWire senior VP and publisher James Israel. “Nat Geo’s support of the art of current documentary filmmaking...
- 11/27/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Updated with details about the next and final screening, which is “Stamped from the Beginning” on November 20. Learn more here.
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
This Monday, November 20, the next and concluding screening in our Art of the Doc series will be of Roger Ross Williams’ acclaimed “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Landmark Westwood. Doors open at 6:30pm with a pre-reception featuring beer, wine, and conversations with other documentary fans. Then at 7:30, the screening will begin, after which there will be a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Marcus Jones with director Roger Ross Williams himself. The film, based on the book by Ibram X. Kendi about how racist tropes permeate American culture, debuted to extraordinary acclaim at TIFF in September, and IndieWire’s Anne Thompson considers it a frontrunner in the Best Documentary Feature race at the Oscars.
New to our Art of the Doc series? Well, IndieWire has celebrated the...
- 11/17/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
At documentary festival IDFA this week, National Geographic’s exec VP of marketing and communications Chris Albert – whose slate includes IDFA entry “The Mission,” about the death of American evangelical missionary John Chau on the remote Indian island of North Sentinel – was asked during an onstage interview with the festival’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia: “How would you market a film with a budget of $20,000?”
The executive, who has worked at National Geographic for over 20 years, was quick to respond: “Whether you’ve got $20,000 or $2 million, marketing can’t make a bad movie good. You can throw as much money as you want into a bad movie and it’s not going to make it better.”
Albert said he could spend his entire marketing budget for a low-budget film by placing it on the viewing portal for Oscar voters, but that is not the way he would proceed. “I...
The executive, who has worked at National Geographic for over 20 years, was quick to respond: “Whether you’ve got $20,000 or $2 million, marketing can’t make a bad movie good. You can throw as much money as you want into a bad movie and it’s not going to make it better.”
Albert said he could spend his entire marketing budget for a low-budget film by placing it on the viewing portal for Oscar voters, but that is not the way he would proceed. “I...
- 11/17/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Documentary traces a 21st-century American evangelical’s reckless efforts to convert an isolated tribe, and his fatal encounter with them
One of the most isolated Indigenous people on Earth, the Sentinelese of India’s North Sentinel Island remain a mystery to anthropologists. For evangelical Christian groups, however, these so-called “unreached” tribes represent a challenge – and a calling. Through illicit means, 26-year-old American missionary John Chau approached the island in 2018 with gifts and Bible verses. The Sentinelese responded with a hail of arrows, killing the young man. The incident made international headlines, with Chau’s death prompting a flurry of reactions ranging from claims of martyrdom to mocking memes. Diving into the heart of the puzzle, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s documentary strives to contextualise – and empathise – with Chau’s gruesome end.
Read out by actors, excerpts from Chau’s diary and a letter from Chau’s father illuminate the circumstances that spurred his quest.
One of the most isolated Indigenous people on Earth, the Sentinelese of India’s North Sentinel Island remain a mystery to anthropologists. For evangelical Christian groups, however, these so-called “unreached” tribes represent a challenge – and a calling. Through illicit means, 26-year-old American missionary John Chau approached the island in 2018 with gifts and Bible verses. The Sentinelese responded with a hail of arrows, killing the young man. The incident made international headlines, with Chau’s death prompting a flurry of reactions ranging from claims of martyrdom to mocking memes. Diving into the heart of the puzzle, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s documentary strives to contextualise – and empathise – with Chau’s gruesome end.
Read out by actors, excerpts from Chau’s diary and a letter from Chau’s father illuminate the circumstances that spurred his quest.
- 11/14/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
Sffilm’s 9th Annual Doc Stories festival is getting underway, featuring a distinguished lineup of Oscar-contending nonfiction films.
Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés, screens this afternoon, while the opening night slot goes to another music-driven documentary, Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, an intimate look at Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste [scroll for full Doc Stories schedule].
Sffilm Doc Stories runs November 2-5 in the City by the Bay, with several of the films available for streaming Nov. 6-7. By design, it’s a tightly curated program.
Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks
“It’s incredibly competitive and we only have two shorts blocks and the rest are features,” notes Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks. “It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase what we consider to be the best of documentary filmmaking at this point in the season. We require a Bay Area premiere, so we’re...
Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés, screens this afternoon, while the opening night slot goes to another music-driven documentary, Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, an intimate look at Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste [scroll for full Doc Stories schedule].
Sffilm Doc Stories runs November 2-5 in the City by the Bay, with several of the films available for streaming Nov. 6-7. By design, it’s a tightly curated program.
Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks
“It’s incredibly competitive and we only have two shorts blocks and the rest are features,” notes Sffilm Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks. “It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase what we consider to be the best of documentary filmmaking at this point in the season. We require a Bay Area premiere, so we’re...
- 11/2/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall from Neon grossed $125,377 at five theaters for a per screen average of $25,075 — a solid limited opening for the Justine Triet-directed film that made its theatrical debut Friday in NYC, LA and San Francisco. A limited expansion is planned for next week.
Sandra Hüller stars as a German writer living a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps with her husband Samuel and their 11-year-old son. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether it was suicide or murder. They fix on the latter and Sandra becomes the main suspect who finds herself and her relationship dissected in a courtroom. Anatomy most recently packed screenings at the New York Film Festival.
The dynamics at play are all different, but here are some of the best recent limited openings in terms of...
Sandra Hüller stars as a German writer living a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps with her husband Samuel and their 11-year-old son. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether it was suicide or murder. They fix on the latter and Sandra becomes the main suspect who finds herself and her relationship dissected in a courtroom. Anatomy most recently packed screenings at the New York Film Festival.
The dynamics at play are all different, but here are some of the best recent limited openings in terms of...
- 10/15/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The world will never know what was going through 26-year-old Christian missionary John Allen Chau’s head when he was shot and killed by arrows off the coast of North Sentinel Island. There are jokes, of course, and educated guesses, but the best most of us can do is search inside ourselves for the answer. That’s the approach “Boys State” directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine take with “The Mission,” using an investigation of Chau’s story as a Rorschach test of audiences’ own biases and beliefs.
Was Chau an evangelical martyr-hero who answered God’s calling and gave his life trying to convert a remote and hostile tribe? Or was he an arrogant and unprepared American, brainwashed by the church into undertaking a suicide mission? Chau can’t answer, and though he left behind detailed diaries and a string of social media posts, the filmmakers were obliged to...
Was Chau an evangelical martyr-hero who answered God’s calling and gave his life trying to convert a remote and hostile tribe? Or was he an arrogant and unprepared American, brainwashed by the church into undertaking a suicide mission? Chau can’t answer, and though he left behind detailed diaries and a string of social media posts, the filmmakers were obliged to...
- 10/13/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
When does a sense of adventure turn into madness? The Mission, a new documentary from Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, attempts to ask and answer this question in telling the tragic story of John Chau. In 2018, the young missionary was killed by arrows on North Sentinel Island, a place he traveled to illegally in an attempt to convert the inhabitants of the remote island to Christianity. Via a mixed medium aesthetic, Moss and McBaine try to understand what brought their subject to the conclusion that he needed to go to where he was not wanted and attempt to “save” these indigenous people.
Unfortunately, John Chau is the least interesting part of the film. Well-made though it is, The Mission is about too many things at once. There’s the young, Portland-born 26-year-old himself; there’s the adventures he took on the prepare for the fatal mission (there’s compelling documentation...
Unfortunately, John Chau is the least interesting part of the film. Well-made though it is, The Mission is about too many things at once. There’s the young, Portland-born 26-year-old himself; there’s the adventures he took on the prepare for the fatal mission (there’s compelling documentation...
- 10/12/2023
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
It’s not difficult to scorn John Chau. A 26-year-old evangelical Christian with a taste for outdoor adventure, he undertook a one-man mission in 2018 to North Sentinel Island, an extremely remote and unreached part of India, to bring the gospel of Jesus to the Sentinelese. Even if you don’t know the story, it’s clear from the start of the new National Geographic documentary The Mission that things did not go well. The film is a reminder that, from the non-missionary perspective, and even from a less reckless missionary perspective,...
- 10/12/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
John Chau’s death in 2018 made headlines around the world: an evangelical young man killed on an island in the Andaman Sea inhabited by an isolated Indigenous group. Chau came to North Sentinel Island bearing a waterproof Bible and dreams of converting the North Sentinelese to Christianity, but his ill-fated mission ended in a hail of sharpened arrows.
Five years after Chau’s fatal endeavor, National Geographic is releasing The Mission, a documentary about Chau’s life, violent death and the ethical questions raised by his attempt to Christianize a people well known for repelling attempts by outsiders to contact them. Emmy-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss join Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss their film, which premiered in late August at the Telluride Film Festival.
“[John Chau] was living his faith in a very radical way,” Moss tells Doc Talk. “He trained for 10 years to get to North Sentinel Island.
Five years after Chau’s fatal endeavor, National Geographic is releasing The Mission, a documentary about Chau’s life, violent death and the ethical questions raised by his attempt to Christianize a people well known for repelling attempts by outsiders to contact them. Emmy-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss join Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss their film, which premiered in late August at the Telluride Film Festival.
“[John Chau] was living his faith in a very radical way,” Moss tells Doc Talk. “He trained for 10 years to get to North Sentinel Island.
- 10/10/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival announced the lineup for the 32nd edition of North America’s longest-running all doc festival, a slate that includes several world premieres and a slew of Academy Award-contending films. In addition, Hot Springs announced Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, an Arkansas native, will serve as honorary chair of the event in the resort town located in the scenic Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.
Filmmaker, artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Sky Hopinka will receive the Hsdff Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award at this year’s festival; Diane Becker and Shane Boris, two of the Oscar-winning producers of Navalny, will earn the Impact Award. The festival runs from Oct. 6-14.
Musician Kishi Bashi, aka Kaoru Ishibashi
Among the world premieres happening at Hsdff are A Song Film by Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari, directed by Justin Taylor Smith...
Filmmaker, artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Sky Hopinka will receive the Hsdff Brent Renaud Career Achievement Award at this year’s festival; Diane Becker and Shane Boris, two of the Oscar-winning producers of Navalny, will earn the Impact Award. The festival runs from Oct. 6-14.
Musician Kishi Bashi, aka Kaoru Ishibashi
Among the world premieres happening at Hsdff are A Song Film by Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari, directed by Justin Taylor Smith...
- 9/20/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Judging from talk in restaurants and on the Telluride gondola, one of the films provoking the strongest reaction at the festival this year is The Mission. The National Geographic documentary, directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, tells the story of missionary John Chau whose shocking demise in 2018 made headlines around the world (and elicited insensitive memes).
The world premiere and subsequent screenings here have triggered debate over the ethics of Christian missionary work, particularly when it involves attempts to convert Indigenous people who have had little or no previous contact with outsiders, as was the case in Chau’s endeavor. He took it upon himself to try to bring the Gospel to the North Sentinelese, a group living on a remote island in the Andaman Sea. After initially being repelled by a warning shot from an arrow, Chau returned the next day and was felled on the beach. His body was never recovered.
The world premiere and subsequent screenings here have triggered debate over the ethics of Christian missionary work, particularly when it involves attempts to convert Indigenous people who have had little or no previous contact with outsiders, as was the case in Chau’s endeavor. He took it upon himself to try to bring the Gospel to the North Sentinelese, a group living on a remote island in the Andaman Sea. After initially being repelled by a warning shot from an arrow, Chau returned the next day and was felled on the beach. His body was never recovered.
- 9/4/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Oscar-winning team behind Navalny is embarking on its next project, a National Geographic documentary under the working title Blink of an Eye. It will focus on the Pelletier family, “a happy, adventurous family of six,” who decided to go on a world tour after learning three of their children would soon lose their vision.
Navalny’s Daniel Roher is directing with Edmund Stenson, who will make his feature debut on the film. MRC and Fishbowl Films are producing, with Fishbowl’s Melanie Miller and Diane Becker on board to produce. They won Academy Awards for producing Navalny (along with fellow producers Shane Boris and Odessa Rae).
The Pelletier’s world “was changed forever when they found out three of the four children were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable disorder that leads to permanent blindness,” noted a release about the documentary. “Edith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier decide...
Navalny’s Daniel Roher is directing with Edmund Stenson, who will make his feature debut on the film. MRC and Fishbowl Films are producing, with Fishbowl’s Melanie Miller and Diane Becker on board to produce. They won Academy Awards for producing Navalny (along with fellow producers Shane Boris and Odessa Rae).
The Pelletier’s world “was changed forever when they found out three of the four children were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable disorder that leads to permanent blindness,” noted a release about the documentary. “Edith Lemay and Sebastian Pelletier decide...
- 9/1/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival. National Geographic Films releases the film in theaters on Friday, October 13.
In 2018, an Evangelical Christian man named John Chau made a covert voyage to North Sentinel Island to visit one of the last voluntarily “uncontacted” tribes on the planet. The people of the island enjoy the protection of the Indian government after choosing to eschew contact with modern society — and outsiders are prohibited due to their hostile attitude toward uninvited visitors. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old Chau ignored the advice of his family and attempted to preach his Christian beliefs to the islanders. He was killed with an arrow at the start of his second visit.
Chau’s story is the subject of “The Mission,” a new documentary from “Boys State” directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss. Using Chau’s extensive diaries and a long letter from his grieving father as a starting point,...
In 2018, an Evangelical Christian man named John Chau made a covert voyage to North Sentinel Island to visit one of the last voluntarily “uncontacted” tribes on the planet. The people of the island enjoy the protection of the Indian government after choosing to eschew contact with modern society — and outsiders are prohibited due to their hostile attitude toward uninvited visitors. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old Chau ignored the advice of his family and attempted to preach his Christian beliefs to the islanders. He was killed with an arrow at the start of his second visit.
Chau’s story is the subject of “The Mission,” a new documentary from “Boys State” directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss. Using Chau’s extensive diaries and a long letter from his grieving father as a starting point,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
National Geographic documentary films specialize in telling stories of adventurers whose journeys put themselves at great risk, but few are more unbelievable than “The Mission.” NatGeo has released the official trailer for the upcoming documentary, set for theatrical release October 13.
The documentary focuses on the story of John Chau, an American evangelical Christian missionary. In 2018 and at the age of 26, Chau traveled to the extremely remote Andaman Islands, claimed by India but closer to Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, on an unsanctioned missionary trip. There, he repeatedly visited North Sentinel Island, which is restricted by the Indian government to outside visitors because of the indigenous Sentinelese, a voluntarily “uncontacted people,” who live there. They’re considered so vulnerable to contamination from outside influences that the Indian government has armed marine patrols around the island to prevent landings. Chau somehow made it ashore, nonetheless. It did not go well.
The film,...
The documentary focuses on the story of John Chau, an American evangelical Christian missionary. In 2018 and at the age of 26, Chau traveled to the extremely remote Andaman Islands, claimed by India but closer to Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, on an unsanctioned missionary trip. There, he repeatedly visited North Sentinel Island, which is restricted by the Indian government to outside visitors because of the indigenous Sentinelese, a voluntarily “uncontacted people,” who live there. They’re considered so vulnerable to contamination from outside influences that the Indian government has armed marine patrols around the island to prevent landings. Chau somehow made it ashore, nonetheless. It did not go well.
The film,...
- 8/31/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
"My friend did something stupid and courageous." Don't really agree with all of that... National Geographic Documentary Films has revealed the first official trailer for a doc called The Mission, made by talented doc filmmakers Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss (of Boys State most recently). This is premiering at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival this weekend, hence the trailer arriving in celebration of its world premiere. The 26-year-old Christian missionary from America, John Chau, was killed by arrows as he attempted to make contact with an Indigenous group on an island off the coast of India, one of the last communities on the planet still living in isolation. This is his story. "The Mission contains multitudes, thanks to Amanda & Jesse's artful, empathic and nuanced storytelling. It is a gripping murder mystery that examines the moral and ethical implications of John Chau's story to probe deeply into the complicated history of colonialism and global exploration.
- 8/31/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Updated with the addition of The Holly and American Symphony to the FallDocs lineup.
The Holly, Julian Rubinstein’s documentary about conflict over a gentrifying neighborhood near Denver, and Matthew Heineman’s film American Symphony, about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, have been added to the IDA’s FallDocs screening series.
American Symphony will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles, followed by a live Q&a with Heineman.
The Holly will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Culver Theater, followed by a live Q&a with Rubinstein, main participant Terrance Roberts, and Aqeela Sherrills, anti-violence activist and co-founder of Community Based Public Safety Collective.
Earlier: Exclusive: The International Documentary Association announced the lineup for its prestigious FallDocs 2023 program, featuring a slew of Oscar contending nonfiction films as well as more than two dozen films that haven’t yet nailed down distribution.
The Holly, Julian Rubinstein’s documentary about conflict over a gentrifying neighborhood near Denver, and Matthew Heineman’s film American Symphony, about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, have been added to the IDA’s FallDocs screening series.
American Symphony will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Culver Theater in Los Angeles, followed by a live Q&a with Heineman.
The Holly will hold an in-person screening on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Culver Theater, followed by a live Q&a with Rubinstein, main participant Terrance Roberts, and Aqeela Sherrills, anti-violence activist and co-founder of Community Based Public Safety Collective.
Earlier: Exclusive: The International Documentary Association announced the lineup for its prestigious FallDocs 2023 program, featuring a slew of Oscar contending nonfiction films as well as more than two dozen films that haven’t yet nailed down distribution.
- 8/31/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The 19th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, kicking off Sept. 14, will feature a handful of award-contending documentaries fresh off showings at Toronto, Sundance, South by Southwest, Berlin and Tribeca film festivals. The Maine-based film festival will unfold in a hybrid format, with both in-person events over a four-day period concluding Sept. 17, and online screenings available from Sept. 18 to Sept. 25 to audiences across the U.S.
This year’s Ciff highlights include the U.S. premiere of Oscar-winning director, Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon,” a portrait docu about the songwriter; Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road,” a documentary about a Black family’s decades-long fight to maintain waterfront land in North Carolina they’ve rightfully owned for generations against corrupt developers; Errol Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel,” an inventive interview with spy novelist John le Carré; and Oscar nominee Karim Amer’s “Defiant,...
This year’s Ciff highlights include the U.S. premiere of Oscar-winning director, Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon,” a portrait docu about the songwriter; Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road,” a documentary about a Black family’s decades-long fight to maintain waterfront land in North Carolina they’ve rightfully owned for generations against corrupt developers; Errol Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel,” an inventive interview with spy novelist John le Carré; and Oscar nominee Karim Amer’s “Defiant,...
- 8/22/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Justin Lin may be the foremost director of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, but he's taking a break from the Hollywood big leagues for his next film: an indie movie about the misguided missionary John Allen Chau. Before helming half of the entries in one of the most successful blockbuster series in modern times, Lin directed indie movies that centered on the Asian-American communities of Southern California, including the quirky comedy "Shopping for Fangs" and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated "Better Luck Tomorrow."
Lin directed "Shopping for Fangs" with Quentin Lee when they were both students in UCLA's film school in 1997. The film marks the acting debut of John Cho, who would go on to work with Lin on his follow-up feature, "Better Luck Tomorrow," as well as years later on "Star Trek Beyond." "Better Luck Tomorrow," a drama about an aimless group of Asian-Americans who throw their successes...
Lin directed "Shopping for Fangs" with Quentin Lee when they were both students in UCLA's film school in 1997. The film marks the acting debut of John Cho, who would go on to work with Lin on his follow-up feature, "Better Luck Tomorrow," as well as years later on "Star Trek Beyond." "Better Luck Tomorrow," a drama about an aimless group of Asian-Americans who throw their successes...
- 3/27/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
In the upcoming Fast X, Dominic Toretto and his family will have to face off against Dante, a new villain played by Jason Momoa.
While speaking with Total Film, Fast X director Louis Leterrier teased that Dante is “pure chaos.” The unpredictable villain also happens to be obsessed with Dom and has spent years studying his every movie. “Dante is in awe of Dom,” Letterrier said. “He’s analyzed him. There’s nowhere to hide, because he knows Dom better than he knows himself. Dom truly meets his match with Dante.” Total Film also released a new look at Jason Momoa as Dante from Fast X, which you can check out below.
The man likes his knives. The origin of the character also ties into the events of Fast Five as Dante happens to be the son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes, who was the villain of Fast Five. The...
While speaking with Total Film, Fast X director Louis Leterrier teased that Dante is “pure chaos.” The unpredictable villain also happens to be obsessed with Dom and has spent years studying his every movie. “Dante is in awe of Dom,” Letterrier said. “He’s analyzed him. There’s nowhere to hide, because he knows Dom better than he knows himself. Dom truly meets his match with Dante.” Total Film also released a new look at Jason Momoa as Dante from Fast X, which you can check out below.
The man likes his knives. The origin of the character also ties into the events of Fast Five as Dante happens to be the son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes, who was the villain of Fast Five. The...
- 2/28/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: After spending the past decade plus-directing some of the biggest tentpoles in town, Justin Lin is returning to his indie roots. Sources tell Deadline he is set to direct The Last Days of John Allen Chau as his next film. Ben Ripley is penning the script, with filming to begin this spring across the globe.
Lin has spent the past 15 years helping turn the Fast & Furious series into one of the biggest franchises in the industry while also stepping in to direct the tentpole Star Trek Beyond in that period as well. Even as he rose in the ranks of A-list directors, he would let it be known to be people in his inner circle that he always wanted to get back to his indie roots, and once the project landed financing the opportunity to direct the film was too hard to pass up.
That said, he is...
Lin has spent the past 15 years helping turn the Fast & Furious series into one of the biggest franchises in the industry while also stepping in to direct the tentpole Star Trek Beyond in that period as well. Even as he rose in the ranks of A-list directors, he would let it be known to be people in his inner circle that he always wanted to get back to his indie roots, and once the project landed financing the opportunity to direct the film was too hard to pass up.
That said, he is...
- 2/28/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.