Ezra Edelman: Last News

The changing nature of the documentary business has seen an influx of celebrities (and their representatives) producing their own series and films over the last few years.

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Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, has been freed after being detained and beaten, according to the documentary’s Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham.

Naman Ramachandran UPDATE: Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning Israel-Palestine documentary “No Other Land,” has been freed, according to the latest post from co-director Yuval Abraham. “After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” Abraham posted on X on Tuesday.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner’s March 13 proposal to shut down the city’s nonprofit art house cinema, O Cinema, following screenings of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” is not sitting well with the members of the doc community. On Monday, 752 members of the international filmmaking community including doc feature Oscar winners Michael Moore, Laura Poitras, Ezra Edelman and Alex Gibney signed an open letter to the city of Miami Beach that stated, in part, that the Mayor’s threat to shut down the O Cinema is “an attack on freedom of expression, the right of artists to tell their stories, and a violation of the First Amendment.” Alfred Spellman, who co-founded Rakontur with Billy Corben in 2000, also signed the letter.

The blowback continues over the Miami Beach mayor’s threat to close a movie theater over its screening of the Oscar-winning documentary . More than 600 people including several Oscar winners have signed an open letter to the city decrying the potential shutdown of indie theater O Cinema as “an attack on freedom of expression, the right of artists to tell their stories, and a violation of the First Amendment.”

Oscar-winning filmmaker Ezra Edelman’s Prince project is joining a select list of documentaries with a dubious distinction – fated not to see the light of day. It happened with Lily Tomlin, the 1986 documentary directed by Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill that has rarely been exhibited publicly. And in the 1970s, the Rolling Stones sued to keep director Robert Frank from releasing his documentary C**ksucker Blues, a film that chronicled a drug-fueled Stones concert tour of the U.S.

Prince documentary has said it is a “joke” that Netflix chose to cancel the project.Last month, the streaming giant announced that a long-awaited nine-part series exploring the life and career of the music icon had been abandoned, in favour of a new “mutual agreement” with the Prince estate. Instead, the new deal would allow Netflix to “develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive”.The director of the cancelled project, Ezra Edelman, who is best known for his work on the O.J.: Made In America documentary, has spoken out for the first time about the decision to shelve the series.During an appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, he said: “It’s a joke… I can’t get past this – the short-sightedness of a group of people whose interest is their own bottom line.

In 2019, Netflix teamed up with Ezra Edelman, director of the Oscar-winning documentary O.J: Made In America, for a new nine-hour doc about Prince. With a promise of uninhibited access to Prince's vault, Edelman worked on the film for nearly five years, and by some accounts it is a masterpiece: Wesley Morris, a New York Times critic and one of the few to have seen the 520-minute film, called it "one of the only works I have ever seen that approximates the experience of suffering with and suffering through and alongside genius.” However, due to changes in leadership at both Netflix and Prince's estate, the film faced a rocky production.

Netflix has canceled the release of a six-part docuseries about Prince amid a deal with the late musician’s estate.

Netflix has canceled the release of what was supposed to be a six-part Prince documentary directed by Ezra Edelman. “The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” Netflix said in a statement shared with Variety on Thursday.

Prince documentary has been blocked and is said to be “dead in the water” after multiple disputes.It comes after representatives for the late artist’s estate claimed a first cut of the Netflix film was filled with “dramatic” factual inaccuracies and “sensationalised” renderings of certain events from his life, according to Variety.Ezra Edelman, best known for his work on the O.J.: Made In America documentary, has been working on the film for the past four years after he replaced Ava DuVernay.The director was given extensive access to Prince’s archives and produced a cut of the film that was reportedly screened recently for insiders.Sources are said to have told Variety that the estate felt strongly that certain events had been “sensationalised” and not properly fact-checked, and that those claims were met with opposition by Edelman while other sources reportedly insisted it was more about “control,” and the estate felt the documentary was not sufficiently positive.The deal for the documentary also called for a six-hour series but Edelman reportedly delivered nine hours, which is said to be a violation of the agreement.Despite their differences, a willingness by all parties to compromise has since been suggested.Edelman, Netflix and Prince’s estate are yet to officially comment publicly on the documentary.Meanwhile, a judge recently issued a decision regarding a legal battle over half of Prince’s estate, and ruled in favour of the late music icon’s former business advisors.Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016, and as he had no will, his six heirs were left to inherit equal parts in his estate.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO and Words + Pictures have launched production on a documentary about Barry Bonds, one of baseball’s greatest players – and one of the most polarizing figures in all professional sport.

Selome Hailu At its first ever Television Critics Association press tour presentation, Disney’s Onyx Collective announced three new series orders: true crime docuseries “Ring of Fire: The Life of Annie Mae Aquash” (working title) directed by Yvonne Russo, an untitled project about car culture hosted by Swizz Beatz and “Searching for Soul Food” hosted by chef Alisa Reynolds and executive produced by Melina Matsoukas.Onyx Collective also set an Oct. 22 premiere date for Oprah Winfrey, Tracee Ellis Ross and Michaela Angela Davis’ docuseries “The Hair Tales” and debuted a trailer for Raamla Mohamed’s legal drama “Reasonable Doubt.” Additionally, an extension was announced of Yara Shahidi and her production company 7th Sun’s overall deal with Onyx Collective and ABC Signature.

Onyx is doubling down with non-scripted with three new series.

EXCLUSIVE: Stax Records, the label responsible for hits such as Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay and Sam & Dave’s Soul Man, is getting the docuseries treatment.