Park Pictures has signed documentary and commercial director Kief Davidson for exclusive international representation. Davidson earned a Best Short Subject Oscar nomination in 2013 for Open Heart, which centers on eight Rwandan children who embark on a life-or-death journey to Sudan in order to have high-risk heart surgery performed at The Salam Centre, Africa’s only hospital offering free cardiac procedures for families in need.
Davidson has to his credit in the ad arena work for such brands as GE, Toyota, Absolut and Facebook. His previous commercial/branded content production company roost was B-Reel and prior to that, Believe Media.
In collaboration with the Lego Company, Davidson and Daniel Junge teamed to direct A Lego Brickumentary, a Radius/Weinstein Company feature documentary which made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014.
“Kief is a great fit for Park Pictures because of his talent for marrying creative filmmaking with meaningful stories. He impressed us with his many accomplishments in the documentary film world. We believe his upcoming feature film, IVORY, will be transformative, not only to the craft of documentary filmmaking but also to the world of wildlife conservation, in particular the widespread slaughter of African elephants,” said Park Pictures’ co-owner and executive producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee.
IVORY (working title) follows undercover intelligence operatives in Africa, Asia and Europe who are taking down the elephant ivory cartels, as activists and rangers fight for the survival of the species. The documentary was produced by Red Bull’s Terra Mater Studios and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, and co-directed by Davidson and Richard Ladkani. The powerful cinema documentary is slated for theatrical release this fall.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Davidson is also known for his award-winning films The Devil’s Miner and Kassim the Dream. The latter won the Documentary Award and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2008 AFI Fest while The Devil’s Miner earned directors Davidson and Ladkani a DGA Award nomination in 2006 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More