Updated 12/22/2023 with details on shortlisted A Still Small Voice. Updated with quotes, 1:37 Pm: American Symphony, the Obamas-executive produced documentary about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, scored a remarkable hat trick today as the Oscar shortlists were revealed, but a couple of documentary icons were left on the bench.
In more headlines from the announcement, a beloved documentary filmmaker who died unexpectedly in August earned a place on the nonfiction feature shortlist. And the film about cherished actor Michael J. Fox, directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, made the list. Two films earned double recognition – making shortlists for doc feature and International Feature Film. [See full shortlists for doc feature and doc short below].
Suleika Jouad and Jon Batiste in ‘American Symphony’
The most eye-popping takeaway is the recognition for American Symphony, the Netflix film directed by Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman and produced by Higher Ground, the production company of former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. It made the...
In more headlines from the announcement, a beloved documentary filmmaker who died unexpectedly in August earned a place on the nonfiction feature shortlist. And the film about cherished actor Michael J. Fox, directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim, made the list. Two films earned double recognition – making shortlists for doc feature and International Feature Film. [See full shortlists for doc feature and doc short below].
Suleika Jouad and Jon Batiste in ‘American Symphony’
The most eye-popping takeaway is the recognition for American Symphony, the Netflix film directed by Oscar nominee Matthew Heineman and produced by Higher Ground, the production company of former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. It made the...
- 12/21/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Over the course of his 45-year career, documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has interviewed an eclectic array of subjects ranging from physicist Stephen Hawking and execution technician Fred A. Leuchter to controversial figures like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and political strategist Steve Bannon. Yet when he sat down with novelist David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) for his latest film “The Pigeon Tunnel,” Morris realized he had finally met his match. “He was perhaps the most articulate person I have ever interviewed,” Morris told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I got the sense that he was really prepared — probably better prepared than I was.”
The director sat down to interview Cornwell, and before he knew what was happening, his interview subject was interviewing him. “He was interrogating me! The question [he asked]: ‘Who are you?’ It’s so strange and disarming. How do you answer such a question?” In trying to find out who Cornwell was,...
The director sat down to interview Cornwell, and before he knew what was happening, his interview subject was interviewing him. “He was interrogating me! The question [he asked]: ‘Who are you?’ It’s so strange and disarming. How do you answer such a question?” In trying to find out who Cornwell was,...
- 12/7/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris had just begun his interview with David Cornwell for The Pigeon Tunnel when his subject — the former spy-turned-author better known by his pen name John le Carré — threw him a curveball. Or a left hook. Choose your metaphor. Cornwell eschewed the usual niceties reserved for such circumstances in favor of a riposte, demanding to know of his interlocutor, “Who are you?” Morris, the Oscar-winning director of The Fog of War, struggled to formulate a response. Maybe, he felt, at some philosophical level it was a question he truly couldn’t answer.
Deadline: What did you think of David Cornwell’s opening move with that question?
Errol Morris: When someone looks at you and says, “Who are you? Who are you?” My answer — I think it’s a fair answer — is I tell him, “I don’t think I can answer that question. Not because I don’t want to,...
Deadline: What did you think of David Cornwell’s opening move with that question?
Errol Morris: When someone looks at you and says, “Who are you? Who are you?” My answer — I think it’s a fair answer — is I tell him, “I don’t think I can answer that question. Not because I don’t want to,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
John le Carré’s famous spy character George Smiley hasn’t retired quite yet. Nick Harkaway, le Carré’s son, is writing a new Smiley novel that will publish globally in fall 2024.
Smiley was known for his depiction as the archetypal British secret agent of the 20th century through novels such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People. From his debut in 1961 to his most recent outing in 2017, Smiley novels have sold more than 30 million copies across formats.
The book will explore the decade of Smiley’s life in between the final scenes of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the start of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The polite and self-deprecating character works for the shadowy British intelligence agency ‘The Circus’ and is considered a foil to the showier James Bond.
Penguin Random House’s label Viking will publish the new,...
Smiley was known for his depiction as the archetypal British secret agent of the 20th century through novels such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People. From his debut in 1961 to his most recent outing in 2017, Smiley novels have sold more than 30 million copies across formats.
The book will explore the decade of Smiley’s life in between the final scenes of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the start of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The polite and self-deprecating character works for the shadowy British intelligence agency ‘The Circus’ and is considered a foil to the showier James Bond.
Penguin Random House’s label Viking will publish the new,...
- 11/10/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
John le Carré (David Cornwell) in “The Pigeon Tunnel,” premiering October 20, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple+
If it is true that to be a great writer, you need an unusual childhood, then the great spy novelist John LeCarre may be Exhibit A. Or so it seems in this fascinating documentary by Errol Morris, The Pigeon Tunnel.
Errol Morris, one of the most creative, compelling documentarians ever, turns his camera on perhaps the greatest spy novelist ever, John LeCarre, in the documentary The Pigeon Tunnel. The British writer and former spy who uses the pen name John LeCarre, but whose real name was David Cornwell, has turned out a remarkable string of spy novels, nearly all of which became bestsellers. From The Spy Who Came Into The Cold onward, John LeCarre has thrilled readers with spy novels that have the intriguing ring of real spy craft to them, unlike the James Bond adventurer type,...
If it is true that to be a great writer, you need an unusual childhood, then the great spy novelist John LeCarre may be Exhibit A. Or so it seems in this fascinating documentary by Errol Morris, The Pigeon Tunnel.
Errol Morris, one of the most creative, compelling documentarians ever, turns his camera on perhaps the greatest spy novelist ever, John LeCarre, in the documentary The Pigeon Tunnel. The British writer and former spy who uses the pen name John LeCarre, but whose real name was David Cornwell, has turned out a remarkable string of spy novels, nearly all of which became bestsellers. From The Spy Who Came Into The Cold onward, John LeCarre has thrilled readers with spy novels that have the intriguing ring of real spy craft to them, unlike the James Bond adventurer type,...
- 10/23/2023
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It’s a big week for documentaries. Three major nonfiction films are hitting digital platforms, including two made by previous Oscar nominees. Check them out when you get home from seeing “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
The contender to watch this week: “Silver Dollar Road“
Raoul Peck‘s last documentary feature, 2017’s poignant James Baldwin profile “I Am Not Your Negro,” earned him an Oscar nomination. Four years later, his HBO docuseries “Exterminate All the Brutes” won a Peabody Award. Now Peck has returned to the awards race with a portrait of a Black family in North Carolina fighting to save their property from land developers who want to drive them out. Based on a ProPublica article by Lizzie Presser, “Silver Dollar Road” opened in theaters last week and is now available on Prime Video.
Other contenders:
“The Pigeon Tunnel”: It’s hard to believe, but Errol Morris has only snagged one Oscar nomination,...
- 10/21/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
In 2016, John le Carré published a memoir called “The Pigeon Tunnel,” which the late spy novelist — who died in late 2020 — claims had been the working title of nearly all his books at some point. For le Carré, the term describes the passage through which naive birds of sport were forced from their nests, only to emerge as targets for marksmen waiting with rifles poised at a hotel in Monte Carlo. That’s just one of several metaphors Le Carré uses to communicate his cynical worldview in a playful portrait from Errol Morris, whose career-long interest in truth and delusion fits his subject so well, the whole film ultimately feels like a bit of a ploy.
For starters, there was no such person as John le Carré, a pseudonym adopted by David Cornwell, an Oxford-educated ex-spy who turned to literature to process the absurdity of England’s so-called “intelligence” industry, which Cornwell slyly dubbed “the Circus.
For starters, there was no such person as John le Carré, a pseudonym adopted by David Cornwell, an Oxford-educated ex-spy who turned to literature to process the absurdity of England’s so-called “intelligence” industry, which Cornwell slyly dubbed “the Circus.
- 10/20/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
From the mind of Academy Award winner Errol Morris comes the mind of John le Carré. “The Pigeon Tunnel,” a six-decade documentary tour of the life and career of the British spy-turned-espionage novel writer, comes to Apple TV+ this Friday, Oct. 20, offering archival footage, dramatized vignettes, and le Carré’s final interview. You can watch The Pigeon Tunnel with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+.
How to Watch ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ When: Friday, October 20, 2023 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$6.99+ / month apple.com About ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”) takes a six-decade look into the life, career, and mind of David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré, the former British spy-turned-author best known for his espionage novels including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,...
How to Watch ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’ When: Friday, October 20, 2023 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$6.99+ / month apple.com About ‘The Pigeon Tunnel’
Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”) takes a six-decade look into the life, career, and mind of David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré, the former British spy-turned-author best known for his espionage novels including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
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.
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside. – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream:...
- 10/20/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A former spy, literary genius, and most importantly, a masterful storyteller, David Cornwell narrated much of his life in polished literary language in his biographical documentary The Pigeon Tunnel directed by Errol Morris. The Apple documentary film is a perfect character study of David Cornwell, a spy who hid his entire past life behind a pen name: John Le Carre. Although Errol Morris’s interview style is somewhat interrogative, in The Pigeon Tunnel, we find Morris in a very friendly mood. Almost entirely behind the camera, Morris becomes an important pillar throughout the film at times. Not only do we get to know more about Cornwell’s life, his ideology, and his writings, but there is a friendly and serene chemistry between him and Morris.
The Pigeon Tunnel is cinematically enriched in every way. Centered on famous espionage novelist David Cornwell, aka John Le Carre, the film has a dark,...
The Pigeon Tunnel is cinematically enriched in every way. Centered on famous espionage novelist David Cornwell, aka John Le Carre, the film has a dark,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
Errol Morris is not one for adversarial interviews. Whether he’s talking to alleged murderers or mourning pet owners, defense secretaries or political svengalis — the documentarian has no interest in moving deftly through a list of questions until he gets to some satisfying gotcha. He’d rather just talk it out, see where things go.
That’s not to say he isn’t up for some sparring, at least when he’s the one being interviewed. When we meet in a New York City hotel room turned press-junket base camp earlier this month,...
That’s not to say he isn’t up for some sparring, at least when he’s the one being interviewed. When we meet in a New York City hotel room turned press-junket base camp earlier this month,...
- 10/19/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Heralded as perhaps the greatest espionage novelist of all time (though some find this label horribly reductive), David Cornwell, best known by his pen name John le Carré, wrote 26 novels over the course of his 60-year career. But filmmaker Errol Morris decided to chronicle the life and career of the English writer and former British Intelligence agent through the lens of his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life. This decision makes perfect sense on paper: why wouldn’t Morris utilize Cornwell’s own recollections and reflections as the backbone of his documentary profile, particularly with a subject who, […]
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/18/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Heralded as perhaps the greatest espionage novelist of all time (though some find this label horribly reductive), David Cornwell, best known by his pen name John le Carré, wrote 26 novels over the course of his 60-year career. But filmmaker Errol Morris decided to chronicle the life and career of the English writer and former British Intelligence agent through the lens of his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life. This decision makes perfect sense on paper: why wouldn’t Morris utilize Cornwell’s own recollections and reflections as the backbone of his documentary profile, particularly with a subject who, […]
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Contrary to Jean-Luc Godard, This Film Isn’t Truth 24 Frames a Second”: Errol Morris on The Pigeon Tunnel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/18/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The documentary festival Doc NYC has unveiled the full lineup for its 14th edition. It will be a total of 114 features and 129 short films. The festival runs in-person November 8-16 at IFC Center, Sva Theatre and Village East by Angelika and continues online through November 26 with films available to viewers across the U.S.
The Short Lists sections showcase a selection of nonfiction features and shorts that the festival’s programming team considers to be among the year’s strongest contenders for Oscars and other awards. The Winner’s Circle are films already feted at major international film events while Come As You Are section highlights films about people striving to find their place in the world, or in their communities.
Short List: Features
20 Days In Mariupol
Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Derl McCrudden
An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the...
The Short Lists sections showcase a selection of nonfiction features and shorts that the festival’s programming team considers to be among the year’s strongest contenders for Oscars and other awards. The Winner’s Circle are films already feted at major international film events while Come As You Are section highlights films about people striving to find their place in the world, or in their communities.
Short List: Features
20 Days In Mariupol
Director: Mstyslav Chernov
Producers: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Derl McCrudden
An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the...
- 10/18/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Documentary filmmaking legend Errol Morris has built his extraordinary reputation on two principle foundations: what might be called dramatizations (he rejects the terms reenactments or recreations) and interviews of incredible insight and verve. He has conversed with a fascinating array of people — Robert McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld, Steve Bannon, owners of pet cemeteries, a woman accused of kidnapping and raping a Mormon missionary, to name a few.
Now, on Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, it’s our turn to interview Morris, about his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel. In the film, which is about to premiere on Apple TV+, the director trains his lens on perhaps his most elusive subject yet – the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, known to the world by his pen name, John le Carré.
Morris tells Doc Talk why his encounter with Cornwell made him question the very nature of documentary interviews. And he gets into whether any person...
Now, on Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, it’s our turn to interview Morris, about his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel. In the film, which is about to premiere on Apple TV+, the director trains his lens on perhaps his most elusive subject yet – the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, known to the world by his pen name, John le Carré.
Morris tells Doc Talk why his encounter with Cornwell made him question the very nature of documentary interviews. And he gets into whether any person...
- 10/17/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
John le Carré was born to be a spy…and one of the premier espionage novelists of the last century. “Betrayal fascinates me,” Le Carré (real name: David Cornwell) tells Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris in The Pigeon Tunnel, a fascinating film about the life of the late bestselling author, whose credits include The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The biggest revelation is that, for a man who crafted tales of international government truths and lies, his most astounding story was his own. Courtesy of Penguin “What came out, was how much he was driven by his relationship with his own father,” says Simon Cornwell, who, with his brother Stephen, co-produced this look at their dad. Le Carré’s father was a charming, and at times violent, confidence man for whom “Life was a stage where pretense was everything,” the novelist recalls. “Of truth and conviction,...
- 10/14/2023
- TV Insider
You’ve no doubt heard of John le Carré––at least for the film adaptations of his novels, among them The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, A Most Wanted Man, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Before his death in 2020, the prolific and wildly successful author (real name: David Cornwell) sat down with Errol Morris to discuss his career, his childhood, and the nature of truth. The result is The Pigeon Tunnel, adapted from le Carré’s 2016 memoir of the same name. Revolving entirely around interviews with Cornwell, The Pigeon Tunnel proves a worthy watch for the novelist’s fans. It’s also too shallow to really captivate a layperson.
That’s not to say Cornwell is a trifling subject. He speaks like a writer, conjuring delightful phrases out of thin air. At the start he describes Morris’s filmmaking style thusly: “Sometimes you’re a spectral figure, sometimes you’re God,...
That’s not to say Cornwell is a trifling subject. He speaks like a writer, conjuring delightful phrases out of thin air. At the start he describes Morris’s filmmaking style thusly: “Sometimes you’re a spectral figure, sometimes you’re God,...
- 10/2/2023
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
Less a last will and testament than a mischievously mutual final troll, Errol Morris’s documentary The Pigeon Tunnel sees both its director and its subject, the late spy turned novelist John le Carré (né David Cornwell), engage in a circuitous dialogue, shot over four days near the end of 2019, that’s as charming and playful as it is oblique and ominous.
Contradictions abound, beginning with the film’s title visual, which is taken from le Carré’s 2016 memoir of the same name. It refers to a hotel in the Mediterranean that a young le Carré would visit with his father Ronnie, a career swindler. Pigeons were bred on the roof, and at certain points of the day the birds were forced to fly through a tunnel where they would emerge over the ocean and be shot at from below by wealthy clientele. Those that survived, rather than break for freedom,...
Contradictions abound, beginning with the film’s title visual, which is taken from le Carré’s 2016 memoir of the same name. It refers to a hotel in the Mediterranean that a young le Carré would visit with his father Ronnie, a career swindler. Pigeons were bred on the roof, and at certain points of the day the birds were forced to fly through a tunnel where they would emerge over the ocean and be shot at from below by wealthy clientele. Those that survived, rather than break for freedom,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Keith Uhlich
- Slant Magazine
Errol Morris’s gentle interview allows the mesmeric writer to hold forth on how his relationship with dodgy dad Ronnie informed his life as a spy and novelist
Errol Morris’s interview with the great English novelist John le Carré (born David Cornwell), deferential and unthreatening as it is, provides another example of a great truth in documentaries that the simple spectacle of clever people talking on camera is as gripping as any thriller. This one-on-one set piece in the classic Morris style was completed just before the author’s death in 2020.
Morris asks le Carré cordial questions about the great themes of betrayal and duplicity in his spy fiction and how they were inspired by his early life. Le Carré answers them with mesmeric fluency and charm, like a brilliant Oxbridge don who has brought a guest from the media to a special high table feast and treats his...
Errol Morris’s interview with the great English novelist John le Carré (born David Cornwell), deferential and unthreatening as it is, provides another example of a great truth in documentaries that the simple spectacle of clever people talking on camera is as gripping as any thriller. This one-on-one set piece in the classic Morris style was completed just before the author’s death in 2020.
Morris asks le Carré cordial questions about the great themes of betrayal and duplicity in his spy fiction and how they were inspired by his early life. Le Carré answers them with mesmeric fluency and charm, like a brilliant Oxbridge don who has brought a guest from the media to a special high table feast and treats his...
- 9/11/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
In “The Pigeon Tunnel,” Academy-Award winning documentarian Errol Morris explores the life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “The Constant Gardener.” Set against the backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the 94-minute docu spans six decades. Archival footage, dramatized vignettes and Morris’ expert interviewing skills allow viewers to see and hear the late spy and author in a very candid light. (Cornwell died in December 2020.)
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” which draws on Cornwell’s bestselling memoir of the same name, is an Apple Original Films production. The doc will debut at TIFF on Sept. 11.
I read that Cornwell really liked “The Fog of War,” which was part of the reason why he agreed to do this project. Is that accurate?...
“The Pigeon Tunnel,” which draws on Cornwell’s bestselling memoir of the same name, is an Apple Original Films production. The doc will debut at TIFF on Sept. 11.
I read that Cornwell really liked “The Fog of War,” which was part of the reason why he agreed to do this project. Is that accurate?...
- 9/11/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to documentary filmmakers, Alex Gibney, Errol Morris and Raoul Peck are at the top of their game. Along with tremendous talent, each helmer possesses what every successful documentarian needs — business savvy — which in turn has allowed them to experience continued success over many years. The trio also has what most documentarians desire — clout and final cut.
But despite their respective success and power, Gibney, Morris and Peck agree that the film festivals where they first found success are still as important to their respective careers as ever before.
This year, Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel” and Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road” will all screen at TIFF.
“The celebratory nature of festivals is awesome,” says Gibney. “It’s one of the reasons you make movies.”
Gibney spent three years making “In Restless Dreams,” a 209-minute film about Simon’s...
But despite their respective success and power, Gibney, Morris and Peck agree that the film festivals where they first found success are still as important to their respective careers as ever before.
This year, Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel” and Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road” will all screen at TIFF.
“The celebratory nature of festivals is awesome,” says Gibney. “It’s one of the reasons you make movies.”
Gibney spent three years making “In Restless Dreams,” a 209-minute film about Simon’s...
- 9/9/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris unveiled his new documentary The Pigeon Tunnel – about the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, aka John le Carré – at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday. Audience buzz afterwards ranked it among Morris’s best work, a canon that includes the classics The Thin Blue Line and Gates of Heaven.
Morris said it took years for The Pigeon Tunnel to be completed. But during a Q&a, he referenced a different endeavor that apparently isn’t fated to come together – a nascent documentary project on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The controversial figure who guided American foreign policy during the Nixon and Ford administrations recently reached the century mark.
Henry Kissinger celebrates his 100th birthday in Bavaria, June 20, 2023.
“Someone wanted me to interview quite recently, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, Henry Kissinger,” Morris told the audience at the Chuck Jones Theater in Mountain Village. “And as my wife has pointed out,...
Morris said it took years for The Pigeon Tunnel to be completed. But during a Q&a, he referenced a different endeavor that apparently isn’t fated to come together – a nascent documentary project on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The controversial figure who guided American foreign policy during the Nixon and Ford administrations recently reached the century mark.
Henry Kissinger celebrates his 100th birthday in Bavaria, June 20, 2023.
“Someone wanted me to interview quite recently, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, Henry Kissinger,” Morris told the audience at the Chuck Jones Theater in Mountain Village. “And as my wife has pointed out,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
At the beginning of “The Pigeon Tunnel,” British author and former intelligence officer David Cornwell – better known to millions of readers by his pen name, John le Carré – sits down in front of Errol Morris’ camera and immediately starts asking questions of the director. Morris is best known for coaxing damning admissions out of his subjects, most notably when former U.S. secretary of defense Robert McNamara admitted U.S. mistakes in Vietnam in “The Fog of War.”
But if the art of the interview is to get the subject to relax and disclose things they might not ordinarily do, forget it: Cornwell was once an interrogator for British intelligence and he never forgets the dance he’s involved in. “This is a performance,” he says, “and you need to know something about the ambitions of the people you’re talking to.”
But make no mistake, Cornwell brought some of...
But if the art of the interview is to get the subject to relax and disclose things they might not ordinarily do, forget it: Cornwell was once an interrogator for British intelligence and he never forgets the dance he’s involved in. “This is a performance,” he says, “and you need to know something about the ambitions of the people you’re talking to.”
But make no mistake, Cornwell brought some of...
- 9/1/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Do enough profiles or conduct enough interviews, and you develop a sixth sense that tingles when your subject utters words you know would make a good lede. Sometimes in that moment it’s hard to resist a tiny fist-pump.
Errol Morris’ new documentary The Pigeon Tunnel begins with such a moment. David Cornwell, known to the world at large as John le Carré, pauses and asks Morris about the role that the filmmaker hopes to play in their conversation.
“You need to know something about the ambitions of the people you’re talking to,” Cornwell observes.
Morris, of course, is a director so invested in the interaction between interviewer and subject that he developed a piece of technology dubbed the Interrotron to facilitate conversations more freely. It’s hard to imagine there’s anything he enjoys more than epistemological chatter of this sort — with the possible exception of finding himself...
Errol Morris’ new documentary The Pigeon Tunnel begins with such a moment. David Cornwell, known to the world at large as John le Carré, pauses and asks Morris about the role that the filmmaker hopes to play in their conversation.
“You need to know something about the ambitions of the people you’re talking to,” Cornwell observes.
Morris, of course, is a director so invested in the interaction between interviewer and subject that he developed a piece of technology dubbed the Interrotron to facilitate conversations more freely. It’s hard to imagine there’s anything he enjoys more than epistemological chatter of this sort — with the possible exception of finding himself...
- 9/1/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Apple Original Films has unveiled the trailer (see above) and key art (see below) for the highly anticipated documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel, a riveting portrait of the master of espionage fiction, John le Carré from Academy Award-winning Errol Morris.
In The Pigeon Tunnel, Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes. The Pigeon Tunnel is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré’s extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction.
About...
In The Pigeon Tunnel, Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes. The Pigeon Tunnel is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré’s extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction.
About...
- 9/1/2023
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
For whatever reason there’s been surprisingly little hype about an Errol Morris documentary on John le Carré––a crowded fall season? that Steve Bannon thing leaving a bad taste?––it might be time to reorient. As good a reminder as any is this first trailer from Apple TV+, who will debut The Pigeon Tunnel on October 20 alongside the obligatory theatrical release, promising a characteristically twisty and obtuse interview with the legendary author, his final before passing away in December of 2020.
Speaking to Indiewire, Morris summarized his project thusly: “This is a portrait of David Cornwell and how he sees himself. You come right down to it, the whole thing is about lying. Being a novelist, creating this skein of stories, is creating an elaborate cosmology––an elaborate fiction. […] What really did transpire? That’s not a central feature of The Pigeon Tunnel. It’s a set of metaphors.”
Find...
Speaking to Indiewire, Morris summarized his project thusly: “This is a portrait of David Cornwell and how he sees himself. You come right down to it, the whole thing is about lying. Being a novelist, creating this skein of stories, is creating an elaborate cosmology––an elaborate fiction. […] What really did transpire? That’s not a central feature of The Pigeon Tunnel. It’s a set of metaphors.”
Find...
- 8/30/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Films about Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste, Andy Kaufman and designer John Galliano are part of this year’s Telluride Film Festival documentary feature lineup.
In all, 22 feature and four short documentaries are heading to the 50th edition of Tff, where buzz for docs seeking Oscar consideration frequently takes hold.
The lineup, kept under wraps until the eve of the fest’s opening on Aug. 31, includes docs from novice and veteran documentarians, including Errol Morris (“The Pigeon Tunnel”), Madeleine Gavin (“Beyond Utopia”), Matthew Heineman (“American Symphony”) and Paul B. Preciado.
After premiering “Orlando, My Political Biography” in Berlinale last February, Preciado garnered four awards, including the Teddy award for best documentary. Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights to the doc in March.
In the docu, the first-time director, who is a trans writer and activist, uses Virginia Woolf’s 1928 book “Orlando,” the first novel in which the main...
In all, 22 feature and four short documentaries are heading to the 50th edition of Tff, where buzz for docs seeking Oscar consideration frequently takes hold.
The lineup, kept under wraps until the eve of the fest’s opening on Aug. 31, includes docs from novice and veteran documentarians, including Errol Morris (“The Pigeon Tunnel”), Madeleine Gavin (“Beyond Utopia”), Matthew Heineman (“American Symphony”) and Paul B. Preciado.
After premiering “Orlando, My Political Biography” in Berlinale last February, Preciado garnered four awards, including the Teddy award for best documentary. Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights to the doc in March.
In the docu, the first-time director, who is a trans writer and activist, uses Virginia Woolf’s 1928 book “Orlando,” the first novel in which the main...
- 8/30/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad,” Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” and George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin” are among the films that will screen at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, Telluride organizers announced on Wednesday.
The festival begins on Thursday, only one day after the announcement of the lineup. The late notice is a tradition at Telluride, which sells out its passes every year without revealing what films will be playing in the Colorado mountain town — although as the Toronto International Film Festival has gotten more detailed in announcing the premiere status of its bookings, it’s been increasingly easy to read between the lines of Toronto releases to figure out what’s headed to Telluride.
(This year, for example, Payne’s “The Holdovers,” which reunites the director with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti, was listed as an international premiere by TIFF, which meant that...
The festival begins on Thursday, only one day after the announcement of the lineup. The late notice is a tradition at Telluride, which sells out its passes every year without revealing what films will be playing in the Colorado mountain town — although as the Toronto International Film Festival has gotten more detailed in announcing the premiere status of its bookings, it’s been increasingly easy to read between the lines of Toronto releases to figure out what’s headed to Telluride.
(This year, for example, Payne’s “The Holdovers,” which reunites the director with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti, was listed as an international premiere by TIFF, which meant that...
- 8/30/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Errol Morris has a thing for facing down squirmy subjects. For the 2003 Oscar-winning “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara,” he cold-called the former U.S. Defense Secretary for an interview. A decade later, the filmmaker trained his Interrotron on another former Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, for “The Unknown Known.”
For the AppleTV+ production “The Pigeon Tunnel,” Morris again captured elusive quarry by recording four days of interviews with John le Carré (neé David Cornwell) in fall 2019; they proved to be the acclaimed author’s last. The film serves as a kind of adaptation of le Carré’s own autobiography, which he wrote after biographer Adam Sisman published “John le Carré: The Biography” in 2015.
“It’s not surprising to me that David took a competitive attitude towards it,” said Morris in a phone interview. “In the most direct way imaginable, he decided, ‘Hey, this...
For the AppleTV+ production “The Pigeon Tunnel,” Morris again captured elusive quarry by recording four days of interviews with John le Carré (neé David Cornwell) in fall 2019; they proved to be the acclaimed author’s last. The film serves as a kind of adaptation of le Carré’s own autobiography, which he wrote after biographer Adam Sisman published “John le Carré: The Biography” in 2015.
“It’s not surprising to me that David took a competitive attitude towards it,” said Morris in a phone interview. “In the most direct way imaginable, he decided, ‘Hey, this...
- 8/29/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Costume Designer Charlese Antoinette Jones has signed for representation by M88. Throughout her design career, Jones has worked on acclaimed films like Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Ben Affleck’s “Air” and the upcoming Apple TV thriller “The Instigators.”
“I’m so excited to be working with M88 as I continue to expand my career,” said Jones in a statement. “I’m especially appreciative of [James] Swoope for his unwavering support and championing me as a multifaceted creative.”
In 2019, Jones launched the Black Designer Database, a digital fashion house that aims to bring exposure and support to Black designers by connecting them with consumer and media opportunities. She also runs her own jewelry brand Char Ant Gold.
As she signs on with M88, Jones will continue to be represented by WME and Frankfurth Kurnit Klein & Selz, and maintains her membership to the CDG.
“I’m so excited to be working with M88 as I continue to expand my career,” said Jones in a statement. “I’m especially appreciative of [James] Swoope for his unwavering support and championing me as a multifaceted creative.”
In 2019, Jones launched the Black Designer Database, a digital fashion house that aims to bring exposure and support to Black designers by connecting them with consumer and media opportunities. She also runs her own jewelry brand Char Ant Gold.
As she signs on with M88, Jones will continue to be represented by WME and Frankfurth Kurnit Klein & Selz, and maintains her membership to the CDG.
- 7/27/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay and McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
TIFF Docs programming team announced some big guns in their line-up comprised of some high value world premieres and a sprinkling of North American preems. Following his premiere in Venice, Frederick Wiseman will bring four-hour docu Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros to the fest while Errol Morris will be coming from Telluride with The Pigeon Tunnel Asmae El Moudir brings The Mother of All Lies – one of my personal faves on the Croisette.…...
- 7/26/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Programme opens with world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine.
Toronto has announced its TIFF Docs line-up, a crop of 22 features at time of writing which includes premieres of new work by Lucy Walker, Errol Morris, and Raoul Peck.
The section opens with the world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, a timely tale about a 1971 international women’s football tournament in Mexico City which drew record crowds and has been largely erased from sports history.
Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa gets its world premiere and profiles a single mother...
Toronto has announced its TIFF Docs line-up, a crop of 22 features at time of writing which includes premieres of new work by Lucy Walker, Errol Morris, and Raoul Peck.
The section opens with the world premiere of Copa 71 from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, a timely tale about a 1971 international women’s football tournament in Mexico City which drew record crowds and has been largely erased from sports history.
Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa gets its world premiere and profiles a single mother...
- 7/26/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Toronto International Film Festival announced its lineup of documentaries this morning, a slate that includes the world premiere of a film on uncancelled comedian Louis C.K., as well as fresh work from nonfiction greats Raoul Peck, Frederick Wiseman, Errol Morris, Lucy Walker, and Roger Ross Williams.
Sorry/Not Sorry, directed by Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, foregrounds women comedians who accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment and the consequences they faced as a result. C.K. admitted in 2017 that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of several women, which appeared to cancel his thriving standup and acting career. But after a pause he resumed standup performances before sold out crowds.
Louis C.K.
“It’s a really nuanced telling of the story produced by the New York Times,” TIFF chief documentary programmer Thom Powers told Deadline. “It’s been six years since the original New York Times reporting on this case.
Sorry/Not Sorry, directed by Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, foregrounds women comedians who accused Louis C.K. of sexual harassment and the consequences they faced as a result. C.K. admitted in 2017 that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of several women, which appeared to cancel his thriving standup and acting career. But after a pause he resumed standup performances before sold out crowds.
Louis C.K.
“It’s a really nuanced telling of the story produced by the New York Times,” TIFF chief documentary programmer Thom Powers told Deadline. “It’s been six years since the original New York Times reporting on this case.
- 7/26/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The soccer documentary Copa 71, from executive producers Serena Williams and Venus Williams, is set to open the Toronto Film Festival’s Docs sidebar as it recounts the 1971 Women’s World Cup tournament in Mexico City.
The documentary from directors Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine will have its world premiere at TIFF. New Black Films, Dogwoof and Westbrook Studios are producing.
Toronto also booked world premieres for Raoul Peck’s Silver Dollar Road, about a Black family fighting to save their North Carolina property from land-grabbing developers; Anand Patwardhan’s The World is Family, which recounts the director’s parents helping lead India’s independence movement; and Karim Amer’s Defiant, about Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and his battle against disinformation.
There’s also a world premiere for Caroline Suh and Cara Mones’ Sorry/Not Sorry, a portrait of women who accused comedy giant Louis C.K. of sexual harassment,...
The documentary from directors Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine will have its world premiere at TIFF. New Black Films, Dogwoof and Westbrook Studios are producing.
Toronto also booked world premieres for Raoul Peck’s Silver Dollar Road, about a Black family fighting to save their North Carolina property from land-grabbing developers; Anand Patwardhan’s The World is Family, which recounts the director’s parents helping lead India’s independence movement; and Karim Amer’s Defiant, about Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and his battle against disinformation.
There’s also a world premiere for Caroline Suh and Cara Mones’ Sorry/Not Sorry, a portrait of women who accused comedy giant Louis C.K. of sexual harassment,...
- 7/26/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: David Cornwell, the British spy better known to the world under his pen name John le Carré, reveals secrets of his extraordinary life in a documentary directed by nonfiction filmmaking legend Errol Morris.
The Pigeon Tunnel, from Apple Original Films and The Ink Factory (The Night Manager), is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on October 20.
Following a career in Britain’s MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and ‘60s, Cornwell became the mega-bestselling author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager and The Constant Gardener, all of which were successfully adapted by Hollywood. His fictional creation George Smiley, the veteran intelligence officer who appears in many of those books, has been played on screen by James Mason, Alec Guinness, Denholm Elliott, and Gary Oldman.
“Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film...
The Pigeon Tunnel, from Apple Original Films and The Ink Factory (The Night Manager), is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on October 20.
Following a career in Britain’s MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and ‘60s, Cornwell became the mega-bestselling author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager and The Constant Gardener, all of which were successfully adapted by Hollywood. His fictional creation George Smiley, the veteran intelligence officer who appears in many of those books, has been played on screen by James Mason, Alec Guinness, Denholm Elliott, and Gary Oldman.
“Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film...
- 7/24/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
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