Happy solstice! 🌞 I’m writing to share some exciting news about recent and upcoming film projects.

KING COAL airs on PBS’ POV beginning tonight!

KING COAL is the season opener for PBS' POV - the longest-running showcase on television for independent documentary films. Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s KING COAL will make its national broadcast premiere tonight - Monday, June 24 2024 at 10pm ET/9CT (check local listings) and will be available to stream until December on pbs.org and the PBS App. 

It’s been such a fantastic journey since the film premiered at Sundance in 2023 - from festivals around the world and theaters across the country, KING COAL has connected with so many incredible audiences. Looking forward to continuing to share the film with the world through PBS! 

HOLLYWOODGATE opens in theaters in NY and LA in July

The film has had an amazing festival run - premiering at Venice and Telluride, and winning the Grand Jury Award of Full Frame, and awards at Millennium Docs Against Gravity, Adelaide, Verzo, Zurich, and El Gouna. 

More theatrical screening announcements coming soon - and if you’re in New York but don’t ever leave Brooklyn, you’ll also have a chance to catch the film at BAM as part of the Contemporary Arab Cinema program on July 17th. 

LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY awarded Jewish Story Partners grant

LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY just pitched at Hot Docs - which was initially daunting but actually incredibly affirming, thanks to the brilliant leadership of Dorota Lech, the familiar face and enthusiasm of Elise McCave at the moderator end of the looong table, the camaraderie of the other filmmaking teams, and all the positive, thoughtful feedback to the film from the industry panelists. 

Now, Leah Galant’s intimate and urgent film about the uses and abuses of Holocaust memory in Germany has been awarded a (second!) grant from Jewish Story Partners. Grateful to have this support to continue production on the film.

Brydie O’Connor’s film about the life, work and legacy of lesbian experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer - and Los Angeles-native and long-time San Franciscan - was recently awarded a grant from the California Humanities as part of the California Documentary Project. This support has been key to keeping this film moving forward!

In March, director Miriam Simun and I had a fantastic time pitching their immersive film, FULLY AUTOMATED CONTACT ZONE, at CPH:DOX, as the conclusion to 2023-24 CPH:LAB program. Miriam and I had the opportunity to speak to XR Must about the program and the film, an exploration of rewilding of two ecologies - the Swiss Alps and Miriam’s gut.

I mentioned in the interview that we were looking to get our hands on a laparoscopic pill camera, and I’m happy to share we’ve secured one! So the film and its companion feature-length documentary, IT IS HARD TO LEAVE SENSE UNMADE, continue apace.

BLISS.JPG screens in Uruguay at Mientros Tanto Cine, and more soon!

My short film BLISS.JPG, co-directed with Emily Rose Apter, an experimental travelog through the geographies and geologies of desktop landscapes, recently screened in the sixth edition of Mientras Tanto Cine in Montevideo, Uruguay.

It’s been so exciting to have this film - which travels the world while filmed entirely in one room - screen all over, from Bucharest to the Netherlands and beyond. More opportunities to see the film will be shared soon.  👀  And if you want to show the film somewhere, in person or online, just let me know! 

You can keep an eye on my website for updates - and I’ll also share more on Instagram - though the whole point of this newsletter is to avoid constant social media updates… 

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to hearing from you! 

All the best,
Elijah Stevens