Latest news with #BenProudfoot
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Documentaries on sex work, whistlers, aeronauts join Toronto's film festival lineup
A scene from the film "The Eyes of Ghana" from Oscar-winning Halifax director Ben Proudfoot is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - TIFF (Mandatory Credit) TORONTO — Sex workers, champion whistlers and hot air balloon adventurers star in the documentaries bound for the Toronto International Film Festival. Festival organizers say TIFF's non-fiction slate will open with 'The Eyes of Ghana,' from Oscar-winning Halifax director Ben Proudfoot and executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama. Proudfoot's short films won Oscars in 2024 and 2022. He now brings a feature on filmmaker and cinematographer Chris Hesse, who was the personal photographer to Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah. TIFF says the film is among 16 world premieres that also include 'Modern Whore,' a look at the sex industry directed by Canada's Nicole Bazuin, and based on the eponymous book by Bazuin and Andrea Werhun. Werhun was a consultant on last year's stripper dramedy 'Anora,' which won best picture at the Oscars and earned the best director trophy for Sean Baker, who executive produced 'Modern Whore.' Other films coming to the fest include John Dower's look at pioneering aeronauts in 'The Balloonists,' Christopher Nelius' examination of competitive whistling in 'Whistle,' and Tasha Van Zandt's deep sea portrait 'A Life Illuminated,' about marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder, an expert in mysterious bioluminescent creatures. And there's the Catholic Church critique 'Nuns vs. the Vatican,' directed by Lorena Luciano and executive produced by Mariska Hargitay and a look at the downfall of a celebrity chef in 'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,' directed by Billy Corben. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4 to 14. Other Canadian documentaries include Jamal Burger and Jukan Tateisi's 'Still Single,' Darlene Naponse's 'Aki,' Shane Belcourt's 'Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising,' Min Sook Lee's 'There Are No Words,' Michèle Stephenson's 'True North' and Peter Mettler's ambitious 'While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts,' described as a a seven-part audio-visual diary. International docs also include Raoul Peck's George Orwell film, 'Orwell: 2+2=5,' a look at the '1984' author's legacy that debuted at Cannes. Previously announced docs include festival opener 'John Candy: I Like Me,' 'Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery,' 'Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,' 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' and 'You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025. Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Documentaries About Paula Deen, Clergy Abuse and Whistling Contests Headed to Toronto Film Festival
The festival's TIFF Docs program will include new films from Oscar winners Laura Poitras, Ben Proudfoot, Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Twenty-three documentaries, including new works from the Oscar-winning directors Ben Proudfoot, Laura Poitras and Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, have been added to the lineup of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday. The TIFF Docs program will include 16 world premieres, beginning with 'The Eyes of Ghana,' directed by Proudfoot, who has won Oscars for his short docs 'The Queen of Basketball' and 'The Last Repair Shop.' The film is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Other world premieres include 'Love+War' from Vasarhelyi and Chin, who won the doc-feature Oscar for 2019's 'Free Solo'; 'Nuns vs. the Vatican,' an examination of new abuse allegations inside the Catholic Church that was directed by Lorena Luciano and executive produced by Mariska Hargitay; 'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,' directed by Billy Corben; and 'Whistle,' a Christopher Nelius film about a whistling competition. More from TheWrap Documentaries About Paula Deen, Clergy Abuse and Whistling Contests Headed to Toronto Film Festival I Made an Emmys Wish List, But Will My Wishes Come True? VMAs: Lady Gaga Leads the Pack With 12 Nominations NY Film Festival 2025 Main Slate Includes Movies From Noah Baumbach, Jafar Panahi, Kathryn Bigelow 'Cover-Up,' a film about investigative reporter Seymour Hersh from Oscar-winning director Poitras and from Mark Obenhaus, will have its Canadian premiere at TIFF after premiering at the Venice International Film Festival and likely screening at the Telluride Film Festival. According to TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers, the films were chosen from more than 1,000 submissions, a record for the festival. Powers told TheWrap that this year's lineup was particularly strong on sales titles that are represented by top agencies, with the films looking for distribution including 'Cover-Up,' 'Whistle,' 'Canceled,' John Dower's 'The Balloonists,' Nicole Bazuin's 'Modern Whore' and Tasha Van Zandt's 'A Life Illuminated.' Films that will be coming to TIFF after playing other festivals include Gianfranco Rosi's 'Below the Clouds,' Lucrecia Martel's 'Nuestra Tierra' and Tamara Kotevska's 'The Tale of Silyan,' all of which will play Venice. Docs that premiered in Cannes and are coming to Toronto include Raoul Peck's 'Orwell: 2+2=5' and Sepideh Farsi's 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,' whose protagonist, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, was killed in Gaza shortly after the film premiered in May. Previously, the festival announced that a number of other nonfiction films would play in different sections of TIFF, among them Colin Hanks' opening-night film 'John Candy: I Like Me' and Baz Luhrmann's 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.' The 50th Toronto International Film Festival will begin on Sept. 4 and run through Sept. 14. TIFF Docs 'A Life Illuminated,' Tasha Van Zandt | USA (World Premiere)'A Simple Soldier,' Juan Camilo Cruz, Artem Ryzhykov | Ukraine (North American Premiere)'Aki,' Darlene Naponse | Canada (World Premiere)'Below the Clouds,' Gianfranco Rosi | Italy (International Premiere)'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,'Billy Corben | USA (World Premiere)'Cover-Up,'Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | USA (Canadian Premiere)'Flana,' Zahraa Ghandour | Iraq/France/Qatar (World Premiere)'Love+War,' Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | USA (World Premiere)'Modern Whore,'Nicole Bazuin | Canada (World Premiere)'Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising,'Shane Belcourt | Canada (World Premiere)'Nuestra Tierra,'Lucrecia Martel | Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Denmark/Netherlands (North American Premiere)'Nuns vs. The Vatican,'Lorena Luciano | USA (World Premiere)'Orwell: 2+2=5,' Raoul Peck | USA/France (North American Premiere)'Powwow People,' Sky Hopinka | USA (World Premiere)'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,' Sepideh Farsi | France/Palestine/Iran (North American Premiere)'Still Single,' Jamal Burger, Jukan Tateisi | Canada (World Premiere)'The Balloonists,' John Dower | USA/UK/Austria (World Premiere)'The Eyes of Ghana,' Ben Proudfoot | USA (World Premiere)'The Tale of Silyan,' Tamara Kotevska | North Macedonia (North American Premiere)'There Are No Words,' Min Sook Lee | Canada (World Premiere)'True North,' Michèle Stephenson | USA/Canada (World Premiere)'While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts,' Peter Mettler | Canada/Switzerland (World Premiere)'Whistle,' Christopher Nelius | Australia (World Premiere) The post Documentaries About Paula Deen, Clergy Abuse and Whistling Contests Headed to Toronto Film Festival appeared first on TheWrap.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Documentaries on sex work, whistlers, aeronauts join Toronto's film festival lineup
TORONTO – Sex workers, champion whistlers and hot air balloon adventurers star in the documentaries bound for the Toronto International Film Festival. Festival organizers say TIFF's non-fiction slate will open with 'The Eyes of Ghana,' from Oscar-winning Halifax director Ben Proudfoot and executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama. Proudfoot's short films won Oscars in 2024 and 2022. He now brings a feature on filmmaker and cinematographer Chris Hesse, who was the personal photographer to Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah. TIFF says the film is among 16 world premieres that also include 'Modern Whore,' a look at the sex industry directed by Canada's Nicole Bazuin, and based on the eponymous book by Bazuin and Andrea Werhun. Werhun was a consultant on last year's stripper dramedy 'Anora,' which won best picture at the Oscars and earned the best director trophy for Sean Baker, who executive produced 'Modern Whore.' Other films coming to the fest include John Dower's look at pioneering aeronauts in 'The Balloonists,' Christopher Nelius' examination of competitive whistling in 'Whistle,' and Tasha Van Zandt's deep sea portrait 'A Life Illuminated,' about marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder, an expert in mysterious bioluminescent creatures. And there's the Catholic Church critique 'Nuns vs. the Vatican,' directed by Lorena Luciano and executive produced by Mariska Hargitay and a look at the downfall of a celebrity chef in 'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,' directed by Billy Corben. The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4 to 14. Other Canadian documentaries include Jamal Burger and Jukan Tateisi's 'Still Single,' Darlene Naponse's 'Aki,' Shane Belcourt's 'Ni-Naadamaadiz: Red Power Rising,' Min Sook Lee's 'There Are No Words,' Michèle Stephenson's 'True North' and Peter Mettler's ambitious 'While the Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts,' described as a a seven-part audio-visual diary. International docs also include Raoul Peck's George Orwell film, 'Orwell: 2+2=5,' a look at the '1984' author's legacy that debuted at Cannes. Previously announced docs include festival opener 'John Candy: I Like Me,' 'Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery,' 'Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,' 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' and 'You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ben Proudfoot & Moses Bwayo Team With The Obamas For ‘The Eyes Of Ghana', A Film About A 93-Year-Old Documentarian's Archive Of Lost Films From Africa's Liberation Era
EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot has teamed with Moses Bwayo and Barack and Michelle Obama for The Eyes of Ghana, a new documentary feature that spotlights Chris Hesse, the 93-year-old forgotten personal cinematographer of revolutionary African leader Kwame Nkrumah. The film, which has already wrapped and is in the final stages of post-production, marks Proudfoot's first feature-length documentary in a decade. More from Deadline 'The Final Copy Of Ilon Specht,' About Woman Who Created "Because I'm Worth It" Ad Campaign, Begins Streaming On TED YouTube Channel With Help From President Obama, Baseball Doc 'The Turnaround' Takes Swing At Oscars Mary McGee Dies: Motorsports Legend And Star Of Oscar-Contending Documentary 'Motorcycle Mary' Was 87 The Eyes of Ghana details the rise and fall of Nkrumah, a towering figure of African history who inspired the liberation of the continent in the 1950s and 1960s after rising to serve as Ghana's first President. A political theorist and prominent African leader, Nkrumah was even featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1953. He was later toppled by a military coup in 1966, which was allegedly backed by the CIA, after he was cast as a dictator. As a result, the films made during Nkrumah's time were ordered to be burned. Though his name is all but erased in the U.S., Nkrumah remains an iconic and revered figure across much of Africa. Hesse serves as the film's unsung cinematic hero, along with his protégé, filmmaker and producer Anita Afonu. The documentary unveils a huge archive of surviving celluloid films from Africa's liberation era in the 20th century, which were long thought to be destroyed but had been quietly safeguarded by Hesse for more than 60 years. For the first time, this hidden trove is unearthed to tell the untold origin story of the African continent. Canadian filmmaker Proudfoot first met Hesse when the latter was 90-years-old after Ghanaian journalist Justice Baidoo (who is a co-producer on The Eyes of Ghana) introduced the two filmmakers while Proudfoot was in Ghana shooting a film for UNICEF. Hesse told Proudfoot about his secret archive of more than 1,000 films and asked Proudfoot for his help to digitize them. Originally imagining a short documentary about Hesse, Proudfoot consulted his friend Bwayo, the Ugandan filmmaker behind Bobi Wine: The People's President, who convinced him to turn the film into a feature. Similarly to Hesse, Bwayo had experience as a personal cameraman to a revolutionary political leader and, after surviving gunshots to his face and attempts on his life while making Bobi Wine, he has since taken political asylum in the U.S. Proudfoot is renowned for celebrating little-known heroes of history and has won two Best Documentary Short Film Oscars for his films The Last Repair Shop and The Queen of Basketball. His short film A Concerto is a Conversation was nominated for an Academy Award in in 2021. He recently teamed up with the Obamas for short doc The Turnaround, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last year. The Eyes of Ghana is produced by Breakwater Studios' Proudfoot and Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Afonu, Bwayo and Brandon Somerhalder alongside Higher Ground's Ethan Lewis and Vinnie Malhotra. Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producers on the project. Composer Kris Bowers, who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Wild Robot, has written an original score for The Eyes of Ghana. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More New On Prime Video For November 2024: Daily Listings For Streaming TV, Movies & More Photo Gallery: 50 Classic Boxing Movies From 'Raging Bull' And 'Million Dollar Baby' To 'The Champ' And 'Rocky'
Fast Company
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
The unsung author of L'Oreal's iconic ‘because I'm worth it' tagline finally gets her due
Back in March, to mark International Women's Day, L'Oreal launched a short film called The Final Copy of Ilon Specht, a 18-minute profile of the advertising copywriter who coined the brand's iconic tagline, 'Because I'm Worth It.' For the past 50 years, it's been the global beauty giant's own version of 'Just Do It.' But this is far from the usual self-congratulatory brand hype video. Directed by Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, the film spotlights the fights Specht had to win in order for her vision to come to life in 1971. Close to 80 years old during filming, Specht didn't pull any punches. She paints a picture of what advertising in that era looked like, both outwardly in the world, and internally as a business. In the '70s, most of the advertising for women's products were from the perspective of men, or in service to men. This will make you pretty . . . for your man. This will clean the house better . . . for your husband and children. In the film, she describes male colleagues who were always arguing with her and taking credit when something worked. She recalled how during pitch and idea meetings for L'Oreal Preference hair color, male colleagues had suggested an idea that cast the woman as an object, rather than the subject. 'I was feeling angry. I'm not interested in writing anything about looking good for men. Fuck 'em,' says an elderly, and terminally ill, Specht in the film, before looking straight down the camera to the male camera operator. 'And fuck you, too.' The film won the Grand Prix for the film category at the Cannes Lions of Creativity last week, and is currently streaming on TED, AMC+, and Prime Video. McCann global CEO Daryl Lee credits his colleague Charlotte Franceries, president of McCann Paris and the agency's lead on the L'Oreal business. 'The fact that we made this true story about one woman is because Charlotte said to me, we are all benefiting as McCann and as L'Oreal Paris from the power of one woman's truth and no one knows her name,' says Lee. What could have been The original ad for L'Oreal Preference hair color that first used the line, 'Because I'm Worth It' is a single shot of a woman walking towards the camera, explaining why she likes it, and how it makes her feel. In the doc, we find out that spot almost never happened. In fact, Specht went behind her bosses' back to create the ad after her agency produced and the brand approved a spot with almost the exact same script, except it was a man speaking the words on behalf of his wife, walking silently beside him. It's clear that 50 years later it still made Specht angry. Angry enough to not want to talk about advertising or that campaign ever again. But director Ben Proudfoot convinced her to participate. To get Proudfoot involved, producer Brendan Gaul says the key was to give the director 100% creative control. 'Our intention was to create a film from the beginning, not a piece of advertising that looked like a film,' says Gaul. 'And the distinction there actually is in the creative control.' The distinction is also in how the film rolled out. Not as part of an ad campaign, but on the film festival circuit. After premiering at Tribeca X in June 2024, it earned Best Short Documentary at HollyShorts Film Festival, Best Short Documentary and the Best Atlantic Filmmaker Award at Lunenburg Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at the Chelsea Film Festival, and Best Short Film at Hot Springs Documentary Festival. Relevant past and present Franceries says that the entire doc process began as an exercise for L'Oreal to interrogate the relevance of its longtime tagline. That after 50 years or so, perhaps it was losing a bit of its meaning to people. 'We needed to keep it but had to give it a much stronger meaning,' says Franceries. 'And the documentary is the most efficient piece of content we've done to convince people about the true meaning.' Since its release, the film has attracted more than two billion impressions, and increased brand consideration for L'Oreal by 70% among viewers. It's a story of the past that does not sugarcoat the role both L'Oreal and McCann played as corporations and as work environments to contribute to the culture Specht was reacting against. Lee says that's important because it shows how relevant it is to constantly be checking for blindspots, both as a person and a company. And in an environment where more and more corporations are receding away from DEI commitments, the message of the film is as important as it was 50 years ago. 'The blind spot is always going to be inclusion,' says Lee. 'Business is now speed, seamlessness and scale, and you have to keep checking yourself to say, 'Okay, we could do this faster, but someone is not speaking up, or someone is not participating, and they could be the person who unlocks the truth here.'' Specht died in April 2024 at the age of 81. She never saw the finished film. Thankfully, her voice still lives on. 'I'm not interested in advertising, I don't give a shit,' she says in the film. 'It's about humans; it's not about advertising. It's about caring for people because . . . we're all worth it, or no one is worth it.'
