What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Opens December 13th at The Nuart in Los Angeles. Buy tickets here.

2019 NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARD WINNER.

Outstanding Documentary Feature Award goes to: What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael directed by Rob Garver

Critically-Acclaimed Film Explores the Controversial Critic’s Life and Legacy

Juno Films has acquired the exclusive North American distribution rights to Rob Garver’s What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael. The film had its world premiere at Telluride and will premiere theatrically at Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles on Decemebr 13th followed by Film Forum for two weeks opening December 25th  in NYC.   

Tagged by Roger Ebert as the most influential film critic of the late twentieth century, the film tells the story of Pauline’s turbulent life and work, through never-seen archival footage, her published writing and personal letters, and interviews with both friends and foes of her pen. Pauline is voiced by Sarah Jessica Parker, and participants include Quentin Tarantino, Camille Paglia, David O. Russell, Molly Haskell, Francis Ford Coppola, and daughter Gina James.  

Pauline Kael (1919-2001) was likely the most powerful, and personal, movie critic of the 20th century. Writing for The New Yorker and publishing a dozen best-selling books, she ruthlessly pursued what made a movie or an actor’s performance work, or not, and why. Her passion made her both admired and despised amongst her readers and her subjects. Pauline’s own story is one of struggle and obsession: the fight to establish her voice and have it heard, and to raise a daughter on her own in a time when the obstacles were high. The latter golden age of movies of the 1960s and 1970s are the focus of this film that pursues the question of what made Pauline Kael’s work so individual, so controversial — and so damned good.  

New York-based director and editor Garver also produced for 29Pictures LLC, alongside Glen Zipper, producer of the Academy-Award winning documentary Undefeated, and co-producer Doug Blush (20 Feet From Stardom). Composer Rick Baitz (The Vagina Monologues) wrote original music for the film, and visual effects were created by Minbomb/LA.    

The deal was negotiated between Elizabeth Sheldon, Juno’s CEO and co-founder, and Eric Sloss of Cinetic. “Pauline Kael was a badass female film critic at a time when women were fighting for equality and respect,” says Sheldon. “She remains an icon and iconoclast for film lovers today. We are thrilled to be working with Rob Garver to bring the film to American audiences.” Garver adds, “I think Pauline would be amused (and maybe worried) that a movie had been made about her. And she’d get a kick out of it being distributed by another woman. I am very excited to work with Elizabeth and Juno Films on a 5-year labor of love.”

Award-winning Film Profiles Five Poets Slamming Truth to Power

Juno Films has acquired the exclusive world-wide distribution rights to Director  Max Power’s Don’t Be Nice. The vérité documentary film had its world premiere at Hot Docs and will premiere theatrically at IFC Center September 20th followed by Los Angeles before it broadcasts on FuseTV in early October. Don’t Be Nice has won numerous awards including Best Documentary at Vail Film Festival, Macon Film Festival, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, and Atlanta Docufest, the Audience Award at Roxbury International Film Festival, and directing awards at Port Townsend Film Festival and River Bend Film Festival.

The film chronicles the upstart Bowery Slam Poetry Team, made up of five African-American, Afro-Hispanic and queer poets in their 20s, preparing for the national championships. Their coach pushes them past personal boundaries to write from a painfully honest place, and the poets break down, break through, and ultimately write their masterpiece. Will their soul-searching pieces about police violence and the whitewashing of Black culture be able to compete against choreographed crowd-pleasers for the title? The team braves their inner demons and bucks societal expectations to write truthful poems, and to ultimately celebrate black joy. 

The deal was negotiated between Elizabeth Sheldon, Juno’s CEO and co-founder, and Producer Nikhil Melnechuk on behalf of Radio Drama Network. “Don’t Be Nice is a documentary that shows the intersection between the personal and the political as expressed by the five poets and their tireless coach,” says Sheldon. “We are thrilled to be working with Max Powers, Nikhil Melnechuk, and Radio Drama Network to bring the film to American audiences.” Melnechuk adds, “there’s never been a better time for a film about the power speaking the truth has to change one’s life. The poets in Don’t Be Nice take big personal risk to share their stories with the world, and we can’t wait for audiences to hear what they have to say.

Chuck Smith's "Barbara Rubin and The Exploding New York Underground" will open in New York at IFC on May 24th and in Los Angeles at Laemmle on June 12th. 

ENDZEIT - EVER AFTER will open in New York at IFC on June 21st and in Los Angeles at Laemmle on June 28th.

THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE will premier in US at San Francisco Film Festival on April 16th and 17th.

Melding archival material from the last 100 years—from grainy newsreel footage to images of the English countryside—with an original soundtrack from Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), Arcadia takes us on a visceral journey through the contrasting seasons, exploring the beauty and brutality, the magic and madness, of our changing relationship to the land and one another.

We are thrilled to announce that Barbara Rubin and The Exploding NY Underground will have its European Premier at Rotterdam International Film Festival in the Regained section, a perfect home for Chuck Smith's award-winning film. Congrats Chuck!