AJ Schnack

I think the main film awards pundit for @variety.com - the one who says the Oscars Documentary Branch “sucks” and “is the worst” - should know when the branch started (2001). Cause dude is straight up saying the Branch snubbed The Thin Blue Line (1988), Paris is Burning (1990) and Hoop Dreams (1994)

I don’t expect a Theranos whistleblower to be an expert in nonfiction cinema any more than I am in medical testing, but John Grierson defined documentary a century ago as “the creative treatment of actuality” and that’s still a good place to start

I choose to see the upside of this as a great moment for people to learn what a documentary is (hint: this is wrong)

New Yorkers!! This is a joy alert: Neon and @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social are presenting four **free** screenings of the wonderful documentary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem”! Reserve your tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/free-nyc-s...

Seven years between films can change you. In this week’s episode, Amir Bar-Lev catches up with @ajschnack.bsky.social and explains what it was like to walk back into an edit room as the oldest person on the crew, and why his job now includes training the next generation. New ep out now! 🔗 in bio.

A beautiful @philipkennicott.bsky.social tribute to the great Ann Hornaday — plus the best tribute to her talents, her words. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/1...

I was lucky to get to know Ann through her love and support of Silverdocs. She was the rare national film critic who understood and championed creative nonfiction. She loved talking documentary and the Iowa State Fair. She was smart and she was kind. This is truly devastating.

You can go back a hundred years and discover that the most interesting and canonical nonfiction filmmakers have been doing this stuff all along. For instance. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/m...

“Videos of the attack, verified by The Times, show that the photographer, Heidi Levine, 63, who was wearing body armor with large press tags, was trapped behind the settlers. They began to beat her with bats and sticks, kicking her as she was prostrate on the ground” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/w...

I have seen some good movies in the past few weeks but they have largely convinced me that the most interesting filmmaking *by far* is happening in nonfiction, and it’s not even a contest

Now the big awards: People’s Choice Award for Documentary is Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been, The Runner Ups are The Ultra Runner and Black Sunflowers #TIFF26

A college administrator calls the cops on a student reporter A college QB laughs at an AI video of his coach slapping a woman journalist The president lunges at a Black woman reporter who dares question him It's past time to fight back against anti-media violence www.inquirer.com/opinion/viol...

Hey New York

Two organizations, two sets of documentary awards, and broadcast home for neither. @ajschnack.bsky.social and @lisaremington.bsky.social on ATAS and NATAS, the future of doc Emmys and the structural reason doc work keeps getting honored in rooms nobody televises. Full bonus episode — link in bio.

Thanks, @normwilner.bsky.social !

If you missed EP. 1, hear filmmaker Margaret Brown describe the wildest interview she's ever seen, in Episode 1 of All These Wonderful Things — a new weekly podcast from Cinema Eye Honors and DSP Studios, hosted by AJ Schnack and Lisa Remington. Listen wherever you get podcasts. 🔗 in bio.

This is what an artist sounds like.

First episode of @allthesewonderfulthings.com podcast is now live. Great to talk to my pal @margaretbrown.bsky.social about The Order of Myths, Yogurt Shop Murders, and her punk rock days in Mobile + @lisaremington.bsky.social asks me to tell @cinemaeyehonors.bsky.social origin story.

We launch @allthesewonderfulthings.com and immediately there’s talk of a documentary getting nominated for Best Picture. It’s a Christmas miracle!

🎧 All These Wonderful Things is a weekly conversation about documentary, the people who make it, and the crafts that make it great. With hosts @ajschnack.bsky.social and @lisaremington.bsky.social. First episode drops Tuesday, September 8. From @cinemaeyehonors.bsky.social and DSP Studios.

Today is Launch Day of @allthesewonderfulthings.com , the first podcast from @cinemaeyehonors.bsky.social . Super excited to expand the conversation around documentary with my co-host Lisa Remington. And huge thanks to @tmbg.bsky.social for an incredible theme song that I can’t wait for you to hear!

For fans of committee meeting chaos, this thread by @schotthappens.com on today’s gathering of the Salt Lake County GOP is solid gold.

Oh, so Karen Bass wants to LOSE lose. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Our @tinadesireeberg.com has won a journalism courage award for her incredible ON-THE-GROUND reporting from Trump's LA invasion! www.statuscoupsubstack.com/p/status-cou...

This time, vertical: It was fascinating to look across three administrations of data in the @uspresstracker.bsky.social and pull out how subpoenas and legal orders have been used on the federal level

The success of the Hadestown proshot is pretty amazing. Biggest new release of the week - $10.2M - and now held over past an initially planned 5-day limited run.

120 MINUTES was an absolute oasis in pre-internet pop culture. So many bands that you could ONLY find there (TV-wise) became ubiquitous online later (and relatively recently). A pioneer. consequence.net/2026/07/dave...

Stephin is extremely honored to be included in the @nytimes.com list of the 30 Greatest Living Americans Songwriters. Gift link: nyti.ms/4vW3zKS #nyt30greatest #americansongwriters

New LA vote drop and @nithyaforthecity.bsky.social now leads Spencer Pratt by 22,000 votes. She could surpass 30%, which would put her within a few percentage points as Bass.

Important to stress that: a) Pelley isn't some resistance hero, he's a reactionary centrist; b) Even this wasn't enough for Bari

So many people focused on Bari Weiss asking to make protesters look more violent and glossing over Pelley admitting they’d already dug deep for the most violent protester footage they could find. His interview is more of an indictment of corporate media than many want to admit.

Police want to decide which journalists can cover the Delaney Hall protests in Newark, New Jersey. But if an officer can point at someone and declare they are not press, the First Amendment ceases to have meaning. Read more from FPF's @adamrose.bsky.social:

Multiple journalists have been assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while reporting on ICE protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, since May 22.

Read this @adamrose.bsky.social piece re the ongoing attempts by law enforcement to: 1. Determine who is press 2. Push press outside of the area where they are able to observe 3. Ignore rulings that specifically exempt press from curfews 4. Assault, detain press www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Thank you @minakimes.bsky.social for repping @selahnhc.bsky.social ! What a game changer for our programs and participants!

Honestly still lots of fun to see with a crowd (our 2023 screening at @vidiots.bsky.social was an SRO blast), but go ahead and watch this youtube if you’ve never seen it.

Thank you so much @normwilner.bsky.social. When we premiered at @sxsw.com six months after 9/11, we were still grappling with whether we’d struck the right notes. Hopeful to get Gigantic out in the world for some 25th anniversary screenings with @tmbg.bsky.social in the coming year.

I suspected this would omit the groundbreaking and Oscar nominated Strong Island, but it still stings that her beautiful work on Yance Ford’s film is not included here.

A @bellvisuals.bsky.social sighting!

Minneapolis, Minn.: Join us a screening of "Escalation" about the surge of law enforcement's attacks against journalists since the murder of George Floyd. Followed by a panel discussion w/ @ajschnack.bsky.social, @kamccudden.bsky.social, @startribune.com + 📍 The Main Cinema 🗓️ Apr. 18, 11:00 am CT

Annual “take pictures of where you hide the hard boiled eggs so that you don’t find them in July” day.

The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene here is an absolute travesty for press freedom rights.

bathrooms.lacontroller.app is a map of public bathrooms in the City of LA. The heat wave is going to reach extreme temps through Friday 3/20. Next week will only cool down a bit (highs will still be in the 80s until the end of the month) Stay cool: Bookmark our map and -

Thank goodness the doc filmmakers brought the politics in an overtly political time. Congrats All These Empty Rooms and Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

Getting ready for @truefalsefilmfest.bsky.social Day 2. Day 1 was Sam Green’s The Oldest Person in the World, Robb Moss’ The Bend in the River and Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard’s Broken English. All three films about time, reflection, personal history, moving forward. The Moss is a real stand out.

If this is true, it’s completely unacceptable behavior for a Senatorial campaign.