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Documentary box office: several films hit money milestones over the weekend

But where does 2019 stand in comparison to last year's remarkable haul?

Photos from opening night of Outfest Film Festival [click for more]

Quote of the Day

​I was very conscious of the incredible opportunity, especially as a trans person, to speak and articulate things in a complex way. I think that's really rare to hear that. You often hear about trans people. You rarely hear from us, even with this whole sort of 'trans tipping point.' I still think there's a severe lack of hearing what our experiences are like from us in our own words. 

--Freddy McConnell subject of the documentary Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth

Photo of the Day

Jeanie Finlay, director of "Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth," with Freddy McConnell, the subject of the film, at the Tribeca Film Festival. April 27, 2019. Photo by Matt Carey

Linda Ronstadt, subject of new documentary, earns Kennedy Center Honor

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, celebrating singer's career, opens September 8

Documentary hit Apollo 11 coming back to theaters Saturday, in time for 50th anniversary of moon landing

Todd Douglas Miller's stirring film is top-grossing nonfiction title of 2019

Leaving Neverland, RBG, Three Identical Strangers, Free Solo lead charge as Primetime Emmy nominations revealed

Surviving R. Kelly, Fyre Festival doc, Minding the Gap, Jane Fonda in Five Acts and more also earn recognition

Pavarotti keeps hold of top spot at doc box office

Tight race for number one between Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, Maiden and Echo in the Canyon

Kirsten Johnson's award-winning Cameraperson coming to Criterion Collection streaming platform this week

Johnson's film 'interrogates' role of documentary cinematographer: 'What I'm interested in is how deep can we go?'

PBS series POV to air On Her Shoulders, acclaimed documentary on Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad

Alexandria Bombach's Oscar-shortlisted film will debut Monday, July 22; click for Deadline.com story

Now playing: documentary thriller Sea of Shadows on effort to save precious vaquita from extinction

Director Richard Ladkani on Mexican cartels and Chinese traffickers conspiring to destroy Sea of Cortez: 'This is organized crime attacking our planet for money and greed and we need to stop it.'

Nonfictionfilm.com exclusive: Morgan Neville on his new Showtime docuseries Shangri-La, about enigmatic, brilliant music producer Rick Rubin

"Having a subject that gives you that kind of license to be that creative, to jump off a cliff, like okay, that's how we're going to make it. We're going to jump off a cliff."

HBO releases trailer for true crime documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips?

Liz Garbus film centers on upstate New York murder case, and whether prime suspect was target of racial bias

Music-related docs post strong numbers at box office

Pavarotti holds on to top spot; two more breakout hits add to impressive totals

Of Bubba, Mitsy, Wishbone and more: New York's abandoned and stray cats saved in new documentary The Cat Rescuers

'The cats are helpless, especially the abandoned ones that have no experience fending for themselves outdoors,' co-director Steve Lawrence tells Nonfictionfilm.com

Now playing: Nick Broomfield's Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, on poet/singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and Norwegian beauty who inspired him

Marianne Ihlen brought up the best in artists, but was she a muse? 'It's a strange kind of 18th century term'

Restored Paris Is Burning set to open in LA before nationwide rollout

Jennie Livingston's classic documentary paved the way for Pose

On PBS tonight: Call Her Ganda explores shocking story of trans Filipina woman's death at hands of U.S. marine

PJ Raval's film about Jennifer Laude has won multiple awards, from LA to Boston

Jimmy Chin, Susan Lacy, Alison Klayman, Talal Derki, PJ Raval, Kimberly Reed among new members of Academy's Documentary Branch

Nearly 100 nonfiction filmmakers join A.M.P.A.S. ranks

Now playing: Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes earns praise for sharp depiction of celebrated jazz label

Director Sophie Huber tells Nonfictionfilm.com how she almost 'blinded' interviewees, and why it was hard to get U.S. funding for a doc about an American art form

Trailer released for Rodney Evans' Vision Portraits, documentary about artists, like him, who are losing their vision

Film plays at Outfest in July before theatrical release in August

Now streaming on Netflix: The Edge of Democracy shows Brazil's dangerous retreat from democratic ideals

Director Petra Costa, producer Joanna Natasegara see warning for U.S. in Brazilian example: 'We polarize more and more and that's not only in Brazil'

Documentary box office: Two films climb over $1 million mark

Plus doc hits The Biggest Little Farm and Apollo 11 add to impressive hauls

Emmy nomination voting window closes today. Read our doc coverage for Deadline Hollywood here

Eighteen pieces for Deadline.com cover everything from true crime series to Jane Fonda doc

Weird, wacky, and (arguably) wonderful: "Corporate musicals" celebrated in Emmy-contending documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway

One musical featured tune 'My bathroom--where I primp and fuss and groom,' another sang of golden grain: 'Wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat. Wheat makes your life complete!'

Filmmaker op-ed: Oscar winner Thomas Lennon on his Sacred documentary, spiritual-themed contender for Emmy nominations

"Here was a chance to look at how faith warms," Lennon writes

Emmy contenders: The Eugenics Crusade documents American 'dream' of improving nation's gene pool 

Director Michelle Ferrari tells Nonfictionfilm.com 'optimism and elitism' gave birth to the movement

Now streaming: The Black Godfather reveals behind-the-scenes role of kingmaker/tastemaker Clarence Avant, most powerful man in entertainment you've never heard of

Major figures owe Avant a debt of gratitude, from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to singer Bill Withers and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

Exclusive photos from The Black Godfather premiere [click for more]

Now playing: Frédéric Tcheng's Halston, on designer who changed the course of American fashion

He innovated women's wear, but his greatest invention may have been himself

Now playing: Oscar-shortlisted The Silence of Others on Spain's brutal past, and the cost of keeping secrets

Documentary by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar on screen in LA, New York, SF Bay Area

Exclusive photos from Echo in the Canyon special event [click for more]

Now playing: Echo in the Canyon celebrates 1960s SoCal music explosion that changed rock n' roll

Andrew Slater's doc stars Jakob Dylan, features David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Michelle Phillips and more

Sundance Institute awards $750k+ to upcoming doc projects

84-percent of films earning grants directed and/or produced by women

Coming soon: legend of CBS newsman lives on in Mike Wallace Is Here

Director Avi Belkin reveals influence Wallace had on TV journalism, and insecurities that drove the man

Doc box office: The Biggest Little Farm new No. 1 film

Film by John Chester documents his adventures in organic farming

Stunning work of artist Maleonn at center of Tribeca award-winning documentary Our Time Machine

In film by Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang, Maleonn creates steampunk masterpiece to connect with his aging father

CNN docu-series The Redemption Project with Van Jones puts offenders face-to-face with people most affected by their crimes

​Eight-part show from Oscar nominee Jason Cohen takes viewers inside dramatic encounters

Rocket Science in the driver's seat for upcoming doc on Formula One racing great Michael Schumacher

Schumacher's family "fully supports" film, which Rocket Science will market at Cannes Film Festival

[Video]: Quincy Jones celebrated at screening of Netflix doc Quincy, directed by daughter Rashida Jones

Rashida and do-director Alan Hicks toast the music legend, 86, at Netflix FYSEE event

[Video] Now playing: General Magic, film on forgotten company that made the first smartphone, then fell to pieces

What went wrong? Director and the film's subject talk with Nonfictionfilm.com about lessons from a Silicon Valley near-success story

Coming soon: The Lavender Scare documents decades-long era when thousands of government workers were fired just for being gay

"All of this needs to be said. People need to know," says one interviewee in Josh Howard film

Linda Ronstadt, ailing with Parkinson's, celebrated in new Tribeca documentary

Festival hosts world premiere of Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Now streaming on Netflix: Knock Down the House shows how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off huge House upset, becoming major political force

Director Rachel Lears wants doc to crossover to Trump voter territory: 'We're incredibly excited for that potential to reach those viewers'

Gay Chorus Deep South wins audience award as Tribeca Film Festival wraps

Runner-up goes to film about Capt. Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd

Now playing: Werner Herzog's Meeting Gorbachev cements legacy of final leader of Soviet Union

Read to find out why famed director praises "courage" of Donald Trump

Exclusive photos/video from Tribeca Film Festival [click for more]

Tribeca Film Festival: Scheme Birds wins top documentary prize

Film by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin centers on place where you "either get knocked up or locked up"

HotDocs: Trailer unveiled for Maxima, documentary on humble Peruvian woman's brave attempt to protect the land around her

Claudia Sparrow's film shows how Máxima Acuña defied Newmont Mining Company over multi-billion dollar goldmine 

Why did INXS frontman Michael Hutchence take his own life? Tribeca documentary may have found the answer

Richard Lowenstein's film Mystify: Michael Hutchence traces cause back to tragic assault kept secret for decades

Mossville: When Great Trees Fall exposes environmental racism that doomed historic Louisiana town

An "oasis space" founded by freed slaves has become a petrochemical hellscape

Breakthrough doc puts Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jim Allison under microscope

Director Bill Haney talks with Nonfictionfilm.com at Full Frame festival: "[Jim] believes science is the key to human evolution as a culture, as a people, as a nation"

Penguins fly at documentary box office

Amazing Grace stays hot and Hail Satan? attracts followers

Tribeca Film Festival to premiere Another Dream, unique VR project on LGBTQ refugees

Documentary by director Tamara Shogaolu combines audio, animation, game elements to tell story of two women forced to flee their Middle Eastern homeland

Midnight Traveler wins top doc prize at San Francisco International Film Festival

Film by Hassan Fazili documents his family's flight from Afghanistan after Taliban signed his death warrant

Nonfictionfilm.com exclusive: Airbnb jumps into documentary production

Company's first doc, Gay Chorus Deep South, to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival

Tribeca documentary jurors announced: NFL great Aaron Rodgers to join Orlando von Einsiedel, Julie Goldman, David Cross and more at judge's table

Festival opens next week in NYC

On centenary of Merce Cunningham's birth, new clip released from Merce-themed documentary If the Dancer Dances

Maia Wechsler's film about re-staging of a classic Cunningham opens in New York April 26 and LA May 3

A hard take on Hindu nationalism: documentary Reason wins Audience Award at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

Anand Patwardhan's film decries India's retreat from secular democracy

Full Frame festival showcases F11 and Be There, documentary on one of America's greatest photographers 

Burk Uzzle's gift and humanity come into focus in film by Jethro Waters

New trailer drops for Ron Howard's documentary Pavarotti

Oscar-winning director's film on the opera great set for June 7 release

Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace documentary, delayed for 46 years, off to hot start at box office

Apollo 11 keeps rising, tops $8 million

Full Frame Doc Film Festival: One Child Nation takes top prize

Awards also go to Kifaru and Mossville: When Great Trees Fall

Full Frame showcases documentary on news legend Mike Wallace

Avi Belkin directed Mike Wallace Is Here, a portrait of a "star journalist" shadowed by insecurities

Full Frame: Director of Molly Ivins doc reveals existence of sealed box of Molly papers

Janice Engel brings Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins to North Carolina festival; says which TV personalities can be compared to late author

Exclusive photos from the 2019 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
[click for more]

Trailer drops for Seahorse, documentary about trans man who carried his own baby

Director Jeanie Findlay's film premieres at Tribeca FF this month

"Charming, charismatic, dishonest": Steve Bannon "deconstructed" in The Brink

Director Alison Klayman says she bit her tongue to keep filming as Bannon spread nationalist-populist message around the world

What I learned from my last conversation with Agnès Varda

The French New Wave filmmaker and documentarian died Friday at age 90

Show Me the Picture: New documentary on Jim Marshall, who captured incredible images of music's premiere talents

Nobody got closer, nobody took as many unforgettable photos as Marshall

Apollo 11 charting impressive course at box office

Todd Douglas Miller's film stays on top, nears $7 million

Musician Scott Walker, subject of acclaimed documentary, dies at 76

David Bowie, who cited him as a major influence, executive-produced doc Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

SXSW: 6th Street in black and white

It's the heart of nightlife during South By

The splice of life: Human Nature delves into promise and perils of gene editing technology CRISPR

SXSW hosted world premiere of doc directed by Adam Bolt, executive-produced by Dan Rather

Trailer released for The River and the Wall, upcoming doc on the Rio Grande and Trump's border wall

Beto O'Rourke makes appearance in Ben Masters' award-winning film

Video: One man arrested after shooting incident in Austin on final night of SXSW

I was nearby with my camera when the shot rang out

Documentary box office: Apollo 11 rockets past $5 million

Top three nonfiction films in theatrical release have tallied combined $40 million

SXSW world premiere: Documentary Tread tells bizarre "killdozer" episode in small-town Colorado

Director Paul Solet recreated homemade tank Marvin Heemeyer welded to get even with his enemies

SXSW Film Awards: Doc filmmakers get political as they accept major awards in Austin

For Sama, The River and the Wall, Ernie & Joe among the big winners

SXSW world premiere: Taxidermists get their due in Stuffed documentary

Director Erin Derham once found taxidermy repellent, until she got to know artists, scientists, conservationists who are preserving the natural world

SXSW: Award-winning directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman unveil timely State of Pride

Documentary on state of Gay Pride festivals premieres as 50th anniversary of Stonewall approaches

SXSW 2019 opening day video

Docs shine as SXSW Film Festival gets underway in Austin, Texas

Beto O'Rourke gets a documentary, as do Johnny Cash and Richard Pryor

Apollo 11 rockets to top of doc box office, with boost from IMAX

Free Solo gets hefty Oscar bump for second place finish

"Entirely awe-inspiring" Apollo 11 documentary opens on IMAX screens today

Director Todd Douglas Miller found previously unseen material to bring the moon mission thrillingly back to life

San Francisco Intl Film Festival to premiere Q Ball, documentary on San Quentin State Prison basketball team

Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant executive-produced film about team members who never play "away" games

"Look how far we've come": a tribute to doc nominees who made it through Oscar season

Twitter reacts as Errol Morris reveals plan to self-distribute Steve Bannon doc American Dharma

Film premiered at Venice, played TIFF, but failed to attract a buyer

They Shall Not Grow Old about to eclipse Free Solo in overall box office

Both films are just shy of $16.5 million in earnings

Oscar documentary winners face unusual array of questions backstage

Free Solo's Jimmy Chin asked about what documentary he would make in China, Chai Vasarhelyi questioned about Hungarian heritage

Director of Lagerfeld Confidential documentary on the late designer's greatest regret, and the side of himself he kept from the public

Rodolphe Marconi discovered surprising dimensions of Karl Lagerfeld in his 2007 film

They Shall Not Grow Old number one at doc box office

Free Solo crosses $16 million mark days before competing at Academy Awards

Michael Jackson fans react with anger after HBO releases trailer for controversial doc Leaving Neverland

The film by Dan Reed depicts late singer as serial pedophile

Hale County director RaMell Ross to follow Academy Awards with role at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

He will curate Thematic Program dedicated to exploring "poetic modes of storytelling"

Skye Fitzgerald on the moral compass that guides his Oscar-nominated Lifeboat

He argues for compassion toward migrants in the Mediterranean, going against political currents

Apollo 11 coming to IMAX screens for one week in March

Immersive film about historic moon mission just premiered at Sundance Film Festival

2019 Tribeca Film Festival to open with The Apollo, documentary from Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams

NEON takes North American theatrical rights to Sundance hit Honeyland

Macedonian film won three awards at festival, including Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary

Documentary box office: Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old scores big weekend

Free Solo nears $16 million

Awards weekend: Free Solo wins a BAFTA, while Quincy takes a Grammy

Director Rashida Jones now has a gramophone trophy, just like dad

HBO announces premiere date for damning Michael Jackson doc Leaving Neverland 

Dan Reed's film, based on alleged victim accounts, depicts "King of Pop" as serial pedophile

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Report: Netflix spends $10 mil. to buy AOC-driven documentary Knock Down the House

Rachel Lears' film on Ocasio-Cortez and three other Democratic women "insurgent" candidates just premiered at Sundance Film Festival

Free Solo's Alex Honnold gets rock star greeting at IMAX screening of Oscar-nominated documentary

We've got video of fans lining up for their selfies with no-ropes mountain climber

​

Directors Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert to receive 2019 Tribute from Full Frame doc festival

Announcement comes days after they win a major honor at Sundance for their latest film, American Factory

Doc box office: Free Solo becomes second-biggest film released in 2018

But They Shall Not Grow Old claims No. 1 spot over weekend

AOC A-OK with Sundance Film Festival-goers

They vote Knock Down the House,  documentary about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,  the Festival Favorite

Three Identical Strangers, The Silence of Others big winners this weekend

One takes DGA Award, the other a Goya Award

NatGeo takes worldwide rights to Sundance Audience Award winner Sea of Shadows

Thriller from Richard Ladkani investigates traffickers in "cocaine of the sea" responsible for destroying precious marine habitat

Sundance 2019 wraps with prize ceremony, honoring major fiction and nonfiction talent  

One Child Nation, Honeyland, Knock Down the House and more claim awards

Jambo Africa Drummers open 2019 Sundance Film Festival Awards

Sundance: Documentary thriller Sea of Shadows reveals how the hunt for "cocaine of the sea" is destroying the vaquita--world's most endangered mammal

Richard Ladkani's film feels like Hollywood action movie: "We felt like we were doing the true Sicario"

Sundance premieres documentary on surprising life of novelist Stieg Larsson

Yes, he published those famous Lisbeth Salander books, but his true passion was battling far-right extremists

Untouchable: Director Ursula Macfarlane and subject Rosanna Arquette at world premiere of Harvey Weinstein doc

Sundance premieres documentary on Molly Ivins, late journalist who skewered the mighty with wicked wit

Raise Hell director Janice Engel says of beloved writer: "The whole idea of objectivity really rubbed her the wrong way" 

Sundance video: Q&A after world premiere of Jawline

Sundance premiere: brilliant Jawline takes us inside world of "live internet broadcasting" where cute guys forge emotional bonds with adoring fangirls

Liza Mandelup's film plays in U.S. Documentary Competition

Of Bing and RaMell: Sundance Institute's Tabitha Jackson on a stellar year for Sundance docs at the Oscars

Institute's Director of Documentary Film tells Nonfictionfilm.com "There's a kind of visibility that we hope will embolden other filmmakers"

Sundance video: Filmmakers behind The Edge of Democracy

Exclusive photos from Sundance [click for more]

Sundance: Sony Pictures Classics buys Matt Tyrnauer's documentary Where's My Roy Cohn? days after festival debut

Film traces Cohn's role exploiting the worst in the American body politic, and his mentorship of Donald Trump

Sundance: Shocking Leaving Neverland doc depicts Michael Jackson as serial pedophile

Dan Reed's film is based on graphic accounts from two men who say the pop star sexually abused them as boys

Say it ain't so! Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cancels plan to attend Sundance Film Festival

She was to have appeared in support of documentary Knock Down the House

Upbeat Robert Redford hints of new role at Sundance Film Festival: "I can move on to a different place"

Interviews with Oscar-nominated documentary short filmmakers

RBG in, but Mister Rogers doc shockingly snubbed as Oscar nominations are announced

Free Solo, Hale County, Of Fathers and Sons, Minding the Gap also make grade

Won't You Be My Neighbor? wins top doc honor at Producers Guild of America Awards

Producers Morgan Neville, Nicholas Ma and Caryn Capotosto share prize

From Oscar-winning director Thomas Lennon, a 'Sacred' experience

He documents religious faith worldwide in film now streaming on PBS, iTunes

Director of Period. End of Sentence. on filming in India where menstruation taboo is "one of the greatest in the world"

Rayka Zehtabchi earns Oscar nomination two years out of film school

Free Solo surpasses box office total of Three Identical Strangers, with boost from IMAX