Two high-profile docs that made their world premieres at Sundance 2016 have found new distribution deals.
Netflix acquired all rights to Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk’s “Audrie & Daisy,” about two unrelated teenage girls who both attempt suicide after they are sexually assaulted by a friend, then bullied online and at school thereafter. The film will be released later this year.
In an interview with Women and Hollywood, co-director Cohen explained why she was drawn to exploring this topic: “I read about Audrie Pott in the newspaper and was devastated to read that boys had taken pictures of her naked body and shared them. It was a new, scary twist on social-media use. I wanted to explore how it was that teenage boys thought this was okay, that it was a joke, that it wasn’t a crime to take pictures of a naked 15-year old girl who was drunk and incoherent.”
Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman’s hotly anticipated “Weiner,” a documentary portrait of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner,” found a buyer in Sundance Selects days ahead of the film’s January 24 premiere at Sundance. Now Sundance Selects has made a deal that will make the film available to viewers first on Showtime, then on Hulu.
Set in 2013, “Weiner” captures the former politician’s attempt to make a comeback by running for NYC mayor after a sexting scandal led him to resign from Congress. The planned return to grace, however, was foiled by more allegations of misconduct. The filmmakers reportedly enjoyed considerable access to their subject.
“Weiner” will also open in theaters on May 20.
