The Morning Report

In the latest of a year of eclectic collaborative deals, NEON struck a partnership deal with Refinery29, purchasing and and co-distributing movies, staring with Assassination Nation (September 21, 2018) and Little Woods (undated). Expressed goal: "to identify, purchase and co-distribute films that align with both companies’ missions to work with rule-defying storytellers that continue to challenge the audience." Refinery29, from the release: "long-form feature films [are] a natural evolution for the company, and another opportunity to celebrate raw innovation and emerging talent within the industry." Words from NEON Senior Vice President, Christina Zisa: "We’re excited to be working with Refinery29 and launching films like Assassination Nation and Little Woods for the company’s smart, passionate audience of women and to bolster our shared dedication to female filmmakers and female-driven films. We couldn’t think of a better brand and partner to align with than Refinery29, as their commitment to creating and supporting content that speaks to young women today is unparalleled." (NEON's current release is Three Identical Strangers.)

"Errol has something that I don’t have and I’ve never seen anyone who has it like him. You do not direct the ones that you interview. Errol has a way to look at them with such an intensity of curiosity and acknowledgment, just to see your face, how you are next to the camera."

The Believer 2008: Werner Herzog Interviewed by Errol Morris

NYT: Film Forum Finds Filmmaker Feels: Agnès Varda, Stanley Nelson, Ira Sachs, Kelly Reichardt, John Turturro, Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker, Raoul Peck, Ramin Bahrani, Christopher Nolan

An Intense Curiosity: Chloé Zhao on Malick's The New World video; six minutes

"When I asked about her alleged anti-blackness, Maya brought up Mark Zuckerberg as evidence that she was set up... by the internet. That her online fans should know that she’s not racist, so that perhaps her one-time friendship with Julian Assange was why she was being attacked online. Her incomprehension that people could be upset by her remarks reflected her naivety about how the internet kills its darlings. Two weeks prior to our meeting, Stephon Clark was murdered, shot twenty times in the back by two police officers. To this she responded: 'Yeah, well noone remembers the kid in Syria who is being shot right now either. Or the kid that’s dying in Somalia.' It made me wonder if she was unwell, not on a Kanye level, but just enough to lack the mechanisms it takes to understand perspective."
Fariha Róisín on "M.I.A. and the Defense of Nuance"

Psychology Beneath The Next Draft Of Psychological Dramas
"How to survive gaslighting: when manipulation erases your reality"