Alex Pritz Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

In the National Geographic documentary The Territory, illegal land grabbers in a section of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest burn down thousands of acres to clear space for cattle farming, buzzsaw giant trees left and right and build settlements in violation of Brazilian law. The destruction of their forest home has been devastating for the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, who are supposed to be protected from such incursions upon their territory.

EXCLUSIVE: Sugarcane has become the latest big documentary deal out of the Sundance Film Festival.

The makers of National Geographic’s The Territory are celebrating their win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, one of the most prestigious awards in nonfiction.

William Earl Leaders in the TV industry will convene at Variety’s in-person TV FYC Fest on June 7 in Los Angeles, featuring Christina Applegate, Kerry Washington, Elle Fanning and more. Fanning (“The Great”), Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”), Rodriguez (“Not Dead Yet”) and Washington (“UnPrisoned”) will participate in a roundtable celebrating Disney’s TV female comedy standouts, moderated by Angelique Jackson, Senior Entertainment Writer, Variety. Jean Smart will present Christina Applegate with the 2023 Variety TV Fest Legacy award, recognizing her storytelling achievements as an actor and producer.

For young Bitaté Uru Eu Wau Wau, the distant chattering of a buzzsaw sends an ominous signal. It’s the sound of his people’s land in the Brazilian rainforest being chewed up by illegal invaders.

Fire of Love and All That Breathes further established themselves as solid Oscar contenders, leading all comers as the IDA Documentary Awards nominations were announced today.

The Oscar prospects for Fire of Love, The Territory, and All That Breathes got a significant boost today with the announcement of the nominations for the 16th Annual Cinema Eye Honors.

A handful of awards season frontrunners is starting to emerge with the announcement today of the IDA Documentary Awards Shortlists.

Best FeatureAftersunCharlotte Wells, director; Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, producers (A24)The CathedralRicky D’Ambrose, director; Graham Swon, producer (MUBI)Dos EstacionesJuan Pablo González, director; Ilana Coleman, Jamie Gonçalves, Bruna Haddad, Makena Buchanan, producers (Cinema Guild)Everything Everywhere All At OnceDaniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, directors; Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, producers (A24)TárTodd Field, director; Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert, Todd Field, producers (Focus Features)Best Documentary FeatureAll That BreathesShaunak Sen, director; Aman Mann, Shaunak Sen, Teddy Leifer producers (A Sideshow & Submarine Deluxe Release in Association with HBO Documentary Films)All the Beauty and the BloodshedLaura Poitras, director; Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov, Laura Poitras, producers (NEON)I Didn’t See You ThereReid Davenport, director; Keith Wilson, producer (RePort Media)The TerritoryAlex Pritz, director; Alex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, Lizzie Gillett, producers (National Geographic Documentary Films)What We Leave BehindIliana Sosa, director; Emma D.

The 2022 Gotham Award nominations are out this morning — the October noms and late November event are industry bellwethers, coming at the start of awards season following fall festival buzz. More to come, but here’s the list below.

The Picturehouse release of National Geographic Documentary Films  The Territory grossed a solid $26.4K in six markets (eight screens) for a PSA of $3,308 with its climate change message attracting a broader than typical age range for a theatrical doc, especially lately, according to Picturehouse CEO Bob Berney.

Naman Ramachandran Rodrigo Reyes’ “Sansón and Me” (Mexico/U.S.) has won best film at the Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 23-28) international competition. Supported by BBC Studios Documentary Unit, the award is Academy Award accredited.Special mentions were given to “One Day in Ukraine” by Volodymyr Tykhyy (Ukraine-Poland) and “After the End of the World” by Nadim Mishlawi (Lebanon)The best first feature award was won by Rosa Ruth Boesten’s “Master of Light” (U.S.-Netherlands). A special mention was given to “Julie on Line” by Mia Ma (France).Best short film was awarded to “Fawley” by Chu-Li Shewring and Adam Gutch (U.K.).

Addie Morfoot ContributorTrue/False, the preeminent non-fiction festival, returned as an in-person event Thursday, drawing documentary notables and fans of their work to a Missouri college town for the first lineup under the artistic direction of Chloe Trayner.There were 31 features and 19 short non-fiction films at the fest, which had more of an international tilt than usual and concludes March 6. Eight features, including “Fire of Love,” “I Didn’t See You There” and “The Territory,” had previously debuted virtually at Sundance in January, but screened for the first time for public audiences at True/False.Their respective directors — Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”) Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) – were among the filmmakers making the trek to Columbia for the 19th edition of True/False.

In the battle to protect their territory in the Amazon rainforest, the indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people really only have one significant weapon in their arsenal: media attention. Without it, landgrabbers will keep penetrating further into their land in the Brazilian state of Rondônia.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNational Geographic Documentary Films has acquired “The Territory,” a timely look at indigenous-led land defense in the Amazon rainforest, following its premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival.The company plans to release “The Territory” theatrically later this year before the film heads to its streaming platforms.Alex Pritz directed “The Territory” in his feature film debut. Using verité-style footage captured over three years, the documentary tells the fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against rapidly approaching deforestation brought by illegal loggers and nonnative farmers in the Brazilian Amazon.In Variety’s review of “The Territory,” which screened in the world cinema documentary competition, film critic Guy Lodge described the doc as “riveting and despairing in equal measure.” “Dual forces of climate change and cultural genocide overlap to devastating effect in “The Territory,” threatening not just a native community but a wider ecosystem — and cheered on by the actively hostile powers that be,” Lodge wrote.Darren Aronofsky, the Oscar-winning director of “Black Swan,” “The Wrestler” and “Requiem for a Dream,” served as a producer on “The Territory.” The film has been co-produced by the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau community, with activist Txai Suruí on board as an executive producer.

National Geographic Documentary Films acquired rights to the docu The Territory for low seven-figures. It’s their second deal, following a big one for Fire of Love. Nat Geo announced The Territory deal this morning.

Guy Lodge Film CriticDual forces of climate change and cultural genocide overlap to devastating effect in “The Territory,” threatening not just a native community but a wider ecosystem — and cheered on by the actively hostile powers that be. Riveting and despairing in equal measure, freshman director Alex Pritz’s documentary immerses us over the course of three years in the lives, livelihoods and dwindling homeland of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people, whose supposedly protected patch of Amazon rainforest is under attack from all sides by farmers, miners and settlers who think nothing of deforesting swaths of jungle that don’t belong to them.For the Uru-eu-wau-wau, themselves rapidly diminishing in number, fighting back is essential but ugly, and anybody hoping for a comfortingly inspirational takeaway from “The Territory” may be disappointed.

In an ideal world, documentary filmmaker Alex Pritz would be bundled up in Park City, Utah right around now, preparing to unveil The Territory at the Sundance Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentEuropean production group Newen Studios is teaming with Oscar-nominated Danish producer Sigrid Dyekjaer to launch production company Real Lava.Based in Denmark, Real Lava will aim to produce cinematic documentary films and series for international audiences. Kicking off Real Lava’s documentary slate is Alex Pritz’s “The Territory” which will be premiering at Sundance.