Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary Awards Season event kicks off Sunday at 8:00 a.m. PT and promises to open up distant lands and even a distant planet — no passport required.

The terrain covered by the actors and creators of our 20 participating films is astonishing in its variety and scope: an enclave of Delhi, India, in anything that breathesa remote part of Paraguay in Eamiand perhaps an even more remote outpost of the Brazilian rainforest in Wild cat. Moscow is the ultimate destination for Navalnythe documentary about the imprisoned and poisoned Russian opposition leader, and Descending takes us to a neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama populated by survivors of the last known slave ship to sail in American waters.

About 5,600 miles separate Moscow from Mobile, just inches apart from the distant rendezvous point of good night Oppyabout NASA’s incredible mission that sent two rovers to Mars – a journey of about 35 million miles.

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In a sense, Lunar Reverie also ventures into outer space to explore the art and music of David Bowie, the rock star best known for portraying Ziggy Stardust and Major Tom.

Contenders Film: the documentary vibrates not only to the sound of Bowie, but also to a contemporary classic in Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a journey, a song. The rhythm continues in The Return of Tanya Tucker: With Brandi Carlile, The Black and the Blues of Louis Armstrongand a pop star actress who bravely shares her mental health struggles in Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.

The panel includes some of documentary’s most recognized talent: Oscar nominees Brett Morgen of Lunar Reverie and Tia Lessin of The Janes (co-directed with Emma Pildes). Multiple Emmy nominee Chris Smith directs Sr.his intimate look at filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and his relationship with his son, Robert Downey Jr. Oscar and Emmy nominee Reginald Hudlin, whose directing career began with comedy house party in 1990, pointed his lens at a Hollywood icon in sydneyhis portrait of the late Sidney Poitier.

For all the distance traveled by these films, one of our Contenders strays no further than a balcony overlooking a street in Warsaw, Poland. It’s one of the amazing truths of the documentary art form that fascinating experiences can spring from the most unlikely places.

Check out today’s program and list of speakers below, and stick with Deadline all day for our panel coverage, both on site and on social media via the #DeadlineContenders hashtag. And stay tuned for Wednesday, when we launch the event streaming site with the full panel videos.

Film of the suitors: documentary 2022

8am PT – Opening remarks

SONY CLASSIC PICTURES

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a journey, a song

Dan Geller (co-writer/co-director/co-producer/co-editor/cinematographer)
Dayna Goldfine (co-writer/co-director/co-producer/co-editor)

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

Lizzie Gottlieb (director/producer)

The Return of Tanya Tucker – With Brandi Carlile

Kathlyn Horan (writer/director/producer)

HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS

anything that breathes

Shaunak Sen (director/producer)

38 In the Garden

Frank Chi (writer/director)

The Janes

Emma Pildes (co-director/producer)
Tia Lessin (co-director)

Lunar Reverie

Brett Morgen (writer/director/producer/editor)

MORNING BREAK

NETFLIX

Sr.

Chris Smith (director/co-cinematographer)

Descending

Margaret Brown (director/co-producer)

APPLE ORIGINAL MOVIES

The Black and the Blues of Louis Armstrong

Sacha Jenkins (director/producer)
Julie Anderson (producer)

Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me

Alex Keshishian (co-writer/director/producer)

sydney

Reginald Hudlin (director/EP)
Derik Murray (Producer)

AMAZON STUDIOS

Wild cat

Melissa Lesh (co-director/producer/co-editor)
Trevor Beck Frost (co-director/producer)

good night Oppy

Ryan White (co-writer/director/producer)
Blake Neely (Composer)
Mark Mangini (sound design/re-recording mixer)

LUNCH BREAK

WARNER BROS PICTURES/CNN FILMS/HBO MAX

Navalny

Daniel Roher (director)
Maria Pevchikh (Subject)
Christo Grosev (Subject)

SHOW TIME

The halls of power

Dror Moreh (director/producer)
Oron Adar (co-editor)
Stephan Krumbiegel (co-editor)

OPENING FILMS

Eami

Paz Encina (writer/director/producer)
Jordana Berg (editor)

ONYX COLLECTIVE

replica

Paula Eislet (co-director/co-producer)
Tonya Lewis Lee (co-director/co-producer)

LOZINSKI PRODUCTION

The balcony movie

Paweł Łoziński (Writer/Director/Producer/Editor)

GUEST HOUSE PRODUCTIONS

Guerrilla Habeas

Betsy Hershey (co-director/producer)
Emma Wall (co-director/producer)