Time (2020 film)

Last updated

Time
Time poster.jpg
Promotional release poster
Directed by Garrett Bradley
Produced by
  • Garrett Bradley
  • Kellen Quinn
  • Lauren Domino
Starring
  • Sibil Fox Richardson
  • Robert G. Richardson
Cinematography
  • Zac Manuel
  • Justin Zweifach
  • Nisa East
Edited byGabriel Rhodes
Music by
  • Jamieson Shaw
  • Edwin Montgomery
Production
companies
Distributed by Amazon Studios
Release dates
  • January 25, 2020 (2020-01-25)(Sundance)
  • October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)(United States)
Running time
81 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget< $10 million [2]

Time is a 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson and her fight for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020, where Bradley won the US Documentary Directing Award, the first African-American woman to do so. It was released theatrically on October 9, 2020, and digitally on Amazon Prime Video on October 16, 2020 by Amazon Studios. In addition to being nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 93rd Academy Awards, it was also one of the few documentary films to ever sweep "The Big Four" critics awards (LA, NBR, NY, NSFC).

Synopsis

The film follows Sibil Fox Richardson (also known as Fox Rich), an entrepreneur, self-described abolitionist, author, and mother of six, as she fights for the release of her husband, Rob, serving a 60-year prison sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary for his participation in an armed bank robbery. Rich served three and a half years for her role in the robbery while Rob was granted clemency by then-Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards in 2018 after he served 21 years in prison. The film combines original footage with home videos. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Production

Bradley met Rich in 2016 while working on her short film Alone, a New York Times Op-Doc. [4] [7] She intended to make a short documentary about Rich, but when shooting wrapped, Rich gave Bradley a bag of mini-DV tapes containing some 100 hours of home videos she had recorded over the previous 18 years. At that point, Bradley developed the short as a feature. [4] [8] [9]

Time was shot on a Sony FS7 camera in black and white. [7] It was selected for the 2019 Sundance Documentary Edit & Story Lab. [10] The score features original compositions by Jamieson Shaw and Edwin Montgomery, [11] as well as music by Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou that was recorded in the 1960s. [7] [8] [12] The film was produced by Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, and Bradley. Laurene Powell Jobs, Davis Guggenheim, Nicole Stott, Rahdi Taylor, and Kathleen Lingo are executive producers, Jonathan Silberberg and Shannon Dill are co-executive producers, and Dan Janvey is co-producer. [5]

Release

Time had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020. [13] In February 2020, Amazon Studios acquired its distribution rights. [14] It also screened at the New York Film Festival on September 20, 2020. [15] [16] [17] It was released theatrically on October 9, 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video on October 16, 2020. [18]

Home media

In March 2021, it was announced that Time, One Night in Miami... and Sound of Metal would receive DVD and Blu-Ray release by the Criterion Collection. [19]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Time holds an approval rating of 98% based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Time delivers a powerful broadside against the flaws of the American justice system – and chronicles one family's refusal to give up against all odds." [20] At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 91 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [21]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that the film "will almost certainly rewire how Americans think about the prison-industrial complex" as it "challenges the assumption that incarceration makes the world a safer place." [22] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "gripping," describing it as a "concise and impressionistic account of love and waiting, of the American justice system and the fight to keep a family whole." [4] David Ehrlich of Indiewire gave it an A− and wrote, "Bradley's monumental and enormously moving Time doesn't juxtapose the pain of yesterday against the hope of tomorrow so much as it insists upon a perpetual now. And while the documentary never reduces its subjects to mere symbols of the oppression they represent – the film couldn't be more personal, and it builds to a moment of such unvarnished intimacy that you can hardly believe what you're watching." [6]

Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said the film is "a dazzling formal feat, but more than that, it's a profoundly sad movie about what it means to grow up without a father, to absorb that blow continually, day after day." [23] Ashley Clark of Filmmaker magazine wrote that the film's "graceful compositions, flowing sonic landscape and at times breathtaking interpolation of Fox Rich's home video archive footage cohere to form a singularly powerful experience." [7]

Kevin Jagernauth of The Playlist, however, stated that the film "wants the viewer to empathize with the very turmoil this family endured" yet felt that there were many gaps left unsolved (Robert turning down the plea bargain, Rich's nephew accompanying the robbery and so on). [24]

Accolades

At the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Bradley won the Directing Award in the U.S. Documentary competition, [25] becoming the first African-American woman to win in that category. [26] At the 2020 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the film won the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award and the Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award. [27] It won the James Blue Award at the 2020 Ashland Independent Film Festival. [28]

AwardDate of CeremonyCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Academy Awards April 25, 2021 Best Documentary Feature Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen QuinnNominated [29]
Film Independent Spirit Awards April 22, 2021 Best Documentary Feature TimeNominated [30] [31]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards November 16, 2020Best DocumentaryNominated [32]
Best NarrationFox RichNominated
Best Director Garrett Bradley Nominated
Most Compelling Living Subject of a DocumentaryFox RichWon
Gotham Independent Film Awards January 11, 2021 Best Documentary Won [33]
Audience Award Nominated
International Documentary Association January 16, 2021Best Director Garrett Bradley Won [34]
Best FeatureNominated
Best CinematographyNisa East & Zac Manuel & Justin ZweifachNominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards December 20, 2020 Best Documentary Film Won [35]
Best Editing Gabriel RhodesRunner-up
National Society of Film Critics Awards January 9, 2021 Best Non-Fiction Film Won [36]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards December 18, 2020 Best Non-Fiction Film Won [37]
London Film Critics Circle Awards February 7, 2021Documentary of the YearNominated [38]
Black Film Critics Circle AwardsJanuary 21, 2020Best DocumentaryWon [39]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards December 21, 2020 Best Documentary Nominated [40]
Sundance Film Festival February 1, 2020U.S. Documentary Competition – Directing Garrett Bradley Won [41]
Grand Jury PrizeNominated
Cinema Eye HonorsMarch 9, 2021The UnforgettablesFox RichWon [42]
Audience Choice PrizeNominated
Outstanding Achievement in Direction Garrett Bradley Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music ScoreEdwin Montgomery & Jamieson ShawNominated
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film Garrett Bradley Won
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature FilmmakingNominated
Outstanding Achievement in EditingGabriel RhodesWon
Producers Guild of America Awards March 24, 2021 Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures TimeNominated [43]
Peabody Awards Documentary honoreeTimeWon [44] [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald Fennell</span> English actress, filmmaker, and writer

Emerald Lilly Fennell is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Rich Hill</i> (film) 2014 American film

Rich Hill is a 2014 American documentary film co-produced and directed by Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos about Rich Hill, Missouri. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for a documentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Hittman</span> American film director

Eliza Hittman is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer from New York City. She has won multiple awards for her film Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which include the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award—both for best screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lulu Wang (filmmaker)</span> American filmmaker

Lulu Wang is a Chinese-born American filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the comedy-drama films Posthumous (2014) and The Farewell (2019). For the latter, she received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and the film was named one of the top ten films of 2019 by the American Film Institute. Wang has also written, produced, and directed several short films, documentaries, and music videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maite Alberdi</span> Chilean film director

Maite Alberdi Soto is a Chilean film producer, director, documentarian, screenwriter, and film critic. She is the founder of Micromundo Producciones.

<i>Nomadland</i> 2020 American drama film by Chloé Zhao

Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Bradley (filmmaker)</span> American director and filmmaker

Garrett Bradley is an American filmmaker and director of short films, feature films, documentaries, and television. She is known for blending cinematic genres to explore the larger sociopolitical significance of the everyday moments of her subjects' lived experience.

<i>Never Rarely Sometimes Always</i> 2020 drama film by Eliza Hittman

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Eliza Hittman. It stars Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, and Sharon Van Etten. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. The film was released in the United States on March 13, 2020, by Focus Features. It received widespread acclaim from critics, with praise for Flanigan's performance and Hittman's direction and screenplay.

<i>The Father</i> (2020 film) Film directed by Florian Zeller

The Father is a 2020 psychological drama film, directed by Florian Zeller in his directorial debut. He co-wrote the screenplay with fellow playwright Christopher Hampton on the basis of Zeller's 2012 play Le Père. A French–British co-production, the film stars Anthony Hopkins as an octogenarian Welsh man living with dementia. Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams also star.

<i>Sound of Metal</i> 2019 film by Darius Marder

Sound of Metal is a 2019 American drama film directed and co-written by Darius Marder. It stars Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who loses his hearing, and also features Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. Sound of Metal had its world premiere in the Platform Prize program at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019. Amazon Studios released the film in theaters on November 20, 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video on December 4. The film was critically acclaimed, with particular praise for the performances of Ahmed and Raci, the sound design, the editing, and Marder's direction and screenplay. It was listed on 52 film critics' top-ten lists for 2020. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Ahmed) and Best Supporting Actor (Raci), and won for Best Sound and Best Film Editing.

<i>One Night in Miami...</i> 2020 American drama film by Regina King

One Night in Miami... is a 2020 American drama film directed by Regina King with a screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his 2013 stage play. The film is a fictionalized account of a meeting on February 25, 1964, between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston. It stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead roles, with Lance Reddick, Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, and Beau Bridges in supporting roles.

<i>Dick Johnson Is Dead</i> 2020 documentary film by Kirsten Johnson

Dick Johnson Is Dead is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirsten Johnson and co-written by Johnson and Nels Bangerter. The story focuses on Johnson's father Richard, who suffers from dementia, portraying different ways—some of them violent "accidents"—in which he could ultimately die. In each scenario, the elderly Johnson plays along with his daughter's black humor and imaginative fantasies. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction Storytelling. It was released on Netflix on October 2, 2020.

<i>The Dissident</i> 2020 American documentary film by Bryan Fogel

The Dissident is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Bryan Fogel. It follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidney Flanigan</span> American actress and singer-songwriter

Sidney Jeanne Flanigan is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Flanigan made her acting debut with the acclaimed independent drama film Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), for which she received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

<i>I Carry You with Me</i> 2020 American-Mexican drama film

I Carry You with Me is a 2020 Mexican-American romantic drama film directed by Heidi Ewing, from a screenplay by Ewing and Alan Page Arriaga. It stars Armando Espitia, Christian Vázquez, Michelle Rodríguez, Ángeles Cruz, Arcelia Ramírez and Michelle González.

<i>Small Axe</i> (anthology) 2020 British anthology film series by Steve McQueen

Small Axe is a British anthology film series, created and directed by Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films that tell distinct stories about the lives of West Indian immigrants in London from the 1960s to the 1980s. Two episodes of the series were selected into the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. The series premiered on 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video in the United States. The title references a proverb – "Small axe fall big tree" or "If you are the big tree, we are the small axe" – that was popularised by Bob Marley in his 1973 song "Small Axe".

<i>Boys State</i> (film) 2020 documentary film directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine

Boys State is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine. It follows a thousand teenage boys attending Boys State in Texas, coming to build a representative government from the ground up.

City So Real is an American documentary miniseries directed by Steve James, revolving around the 2019 mayoral election in Chicago, Illinois, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social upheaval following the murder of George Floyd. It consists of 5 episodes and premiered on October 29, 2020, on National Geographic.

<i>Flee</i> (film) 2021 animated documentary film

Flee is a 2021 independent adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. An international co-production with Denmark, France, Norway, and Sweden, it follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.

Brett Story is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, most noted for her 2016 film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes.

References

  1. ↑ "Time". Sundance Film Festival . Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  2. ↑ Spangler, Todd (October 27, 2020). " Borat 2 Drew 'Tens of Millions' of Viewers Over Opening Weekend, Amazon Says". Variety . Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  3. ↑ Félix, Doreen St (January 18, 2022). "Time: Time in the Mind". The Criterion Collection.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Linden, Sheri (January 25, 2020). "'Time': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Morgan, Jillian (February 21, 2020). "Amazon Studios acquires Garrett Bradley Sundance doc "Time"". Real Screen. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Ehrlich, David (February 3, 2020). "'Time' Review: A Poignant and Monumental Portrait of Mass Incarceration in America". Indiewire. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Clark, Ashley (July 7, 2020). "The Past in the Present". Filmmaker. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Taubin, Amy (January 31, 2020). "Interview: Garrett Bradley". Film Comment. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ Dobbins, April (March 4, 2020). "Time and Mucho Mucho Amor Top Miami Film Festival 2020's Documentary Offerings". Miami New Times. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  10. ↑ ""Feels as if Time Is Unspooling in Front of Our Eyes": Editor Gabriel Rhodes on Time". Filmmaker. January 25, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ Saito, Stephen (January 29, 2020). "Sundance 2020 Review: Garrett Bradley Conveys the Great Power of "Time"". Moveable Fest. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Smith, Michael Glover. "Interview with TIME director Garrett Bradley". Cinefile. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  13. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (December 4, 2019). "Sundance Unveils Female-Powered Lineup Featuring Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem, Abortion Road Trip Drama". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  14. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (February 20, 2020). "Amazon Nabs Sundance Doc 'Time' for $5 Million (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  15. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 13, 2020). "Garrett Bradley's Documentary 'Time' Sets Theatrical Debut Before Launching on Amazon Prime Video (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  16. ↑ "58th New York Film Festival Main Slate Announced". New York Film Festival . August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Time". New York Film Festival . Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  18. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 13, 2020). "Garrett Bradley's Documentary 'Time' Sets Theatrical Debut Before Launching on Amazon Prime Video (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  19. ↑ Sharf, Zack (March 5, 2021). "Amazon's 'Sound of Metal,' 'Time,' and 'One Night in Miami' to Join Criterion Collection". IndieWire. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Time (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Time Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  22. ↑ Debruge, Peter (February 4, 2020). "'Time': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  23. ↑ Chang, Justin (February 3, 2020). "Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang wrap up the 2020 Sundance Film Festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  24. ↑ "'Time' Clocks An Uneven & Incomplete Portrait Of Injustice [Sundance Review]". theplaylist.net. January 27, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Directing Award: U.S. Documentary — Time". Sundance Film Festival . Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  26. ↑ Boone, Keyaira (February 3, 2020). "Black Women Take Home Top Directing Awards At Sundance Film Festival". Essence. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  27. ↑ "2020 Award Winners". fullframefest.org. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  28. ↑ LaBerge, Madison (June 17, 2020). "Ashland Independent Film Festival announces winners virtually". Fox 26 Medford. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  29. ↑ "2021". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 19, 2024.
  30. ↑ Galuppo, Mia; Lewis, Hilary (January 26, 2021). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always,' 'Minari,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Nomadland' Top Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter.
  31. ↑ "SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINATIONS (2021) | Presenters Olivia Wilde, Barry Jenkins & Laverne Cox". YouTube. January 26, 2021.
  32. ↑ Moreau, Jordan (November 16, 2020). "'Dick Johnson Is Dead' Wins Best Feature at Critics Choice Documentary Awards". Variety.
  33. ↑ Sharf, Zack (January 12, 2021). "Gotham Award Winners: 'Nomadland' Wins Best Feature, Riz Ahmed Takes Best Actor". IndieWire.
  34. ↑ Thompson, Anne (January 17, 2021). "IDA Awards: 'Crip Camp' Wins Best Feature, Garrett Bradley Is Best Director". IndieWire.
  35. ↑ Davis, Clayton (December 20, 2020). "Los Angeles Film Critics Winners Full List: Entire 'Small Axe' Series Tops Despite Not Being Submitted for Oscars". Variety.
  36. ↑ Beresford, Trilby (January 9, 2021). "'Nomadland' Named Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics". The Hollywood Reporter.
  37. ↑ Blauvelt, Christian; Lindahl, Chris (December 18, 2020). "New York Film Critics Circle 2020 Winners: 'First Cow,' Chadwick Boseman, and More". IndieWire.
  38. ↑ Cline, Rich (January 12, 2021). "Female filmmakers lead nominees for the Critics' Circle Film Awards". The Critics' Circle.
  39. ↑ Feinberg, Scott (January 21, 2021). "Black Film Critics Circle: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Named Best Film of Year (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  40. ↑ "Chicago critics choose 'Nomadland' as 2020's best movie". Chicago Sun-Times. December 22, 2020.
  41. ↑ Debruge, Peter (February 2, 2020). "Sundance Winners: 'Minari' and 'Boys State' Take Top Honors". Variety.
  42. ↑ Thompson, Anne (December 10, 2020). "'Time' Leads Influential Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Nominations". IndieWire.
  43. ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (February 2, 2021). "'Truffle Hunters,' 'Time' and 'Dick Johnson Is Dead' Among Producers Guild Doc Nominations". Variety. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  44. ↑ "Time". The Peabody Awards.
  45. ↑ "D.L. Hughley Presents Time with a Peabody Award". YouTube. June 21, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.