Paramount+ to Exclusively Premiere MTV Documentary Films’ Award-Winning Slate

Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, today announced it will exclusively premiere MTV Documentary Films’ award-winning slate, including two feature-length documentaries, four documentary shorts, and one animated short. The films are executive produced by Sheila Nevins.
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During two consecutive weeks in November, the features SABAYA (winner of the 2021 World Cinema Documentary Best Directing Award, Sundance Film Festival) and ASCENSION (winner of the 2021 Best Documentary Feature, Tribeca Film Festival) will premiere exclusively on the service today, Monday, November 15 @ 10:00 AM, PT, while shorts CODED: THE HIDDEN LOVE OF J.C. LEYENDECKER (winner of the 2021 Best Documentary Short, Tribeca Film Festival); LYNCHING POSTCARDS: “TOKEN OF A GREAT DAY”; R.I.P. T-SHIRTS (winner of 2021 Audience Award for Best Short Film, Berkshire International Film Festival); BREE WAYY: PROMISE WITNESS REMEMBRANCE; and THE MUSICIAN (winner of 2021 Best Animated Short, Tribeca Film Festival) will premiere Monday, November 22 @ 10:00 AM, PT.

“MTV Documentary Films further opens up the competitive documentary gate with seven noteworthy projects, spanning features, shorts and animation, that will have even greater visibility via Paramount+. Each of these titles has been carefully curated or originally produced, and they all represent the upcoming excellence of our underdog documentary division,” said Sheila Nevins, Executive Producer, MTV Documentary Films.

“Paramount+ features an extensive variety of documentaries and docuseries, and we are thrilled to have such a highly prestigious and curated slate from Shelia Nevins, Nina L. Diaz and Liza Burnett Fefferman of MTV Documentary Films,” said Tanya Giles, Chief Programming Officer, ViacomCBS Streaming. “The addition of these award-winning features and shorts on the service further expands our offering of incredible documentary storytelling, and we look forward to introducing our subscribers to these fantastic films.”

FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES

· ASCENSION – One of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2021, ASCENSION is an exploration of the pursuit of wealth and the paradox of progress in modern China, and examines what living the so-called “Chinese Dream” looks like today. The film was recently nominated for five Cinema Eye Awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking; a Gotham Award for Best Documentary; and six Critics Choice Documentary Awards including Best Documentary; and is on the IDA short-list for Best Documentary.

· SABAYA – Winner of the Directing Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, this brave, riveting film takes us inside the most dangerous refugee camps in the Middle East, Al-Hol, in Syria. With just a mobile phone and a gun, Mahmud, Ziyad and their group risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held there by ISIS as sabaya (sex slaves).

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

· BREE WAYY: PROMISE WITNESS REMEMBRANCE – A film by director Dawn Porter (“The Way I See It”) that looks at how the art world responded to the death of Breonna Taylor by using it not only as a form of protest, but as a space to heal, as Amy Sherrod’s painting of Taylor arrives at St. Louis’ Speed Museum. A Doc NYC Short Shortlist selection.

· CODED: THE HIDDEN LOVE OF J.C. LEYENDECKER – J.C. Leyendecker was one of the most prominent artists of his time, but his story is largely forgotten. Forced to keep his sexuality a secret, his coded imagery spoke directly to the gay community and laid the foundation for LGBTQ representation in advertising today. Featuring Neil Patrick Harris. Winner of Best Short Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival and a Doc NYC Short Shortlist selection.

· LYNCHING POSTCARDS: “TOKEN OF A GREAT DAY” – From 1880 to 1968, over 4000 African Americans were lynched in the United States. Like picnics or parties, lynchings were often carnival-like events commemorated through photos and postcards. This film tells the story of how Black activists subverted these souvenirs, which were celebrations of white supremacy, in the fight against lynching. Executive produced by Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. A Doc NYC Short Shortlist selection.

· R.I.P. T-SHIRTS – Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, this film takes an intimate look at gun violence and the effect it has on young teenagers, through the eyes of a t-shirt shop owner just outside Washington, D.C. Each day, families and friends of recently murdered young Black people visit Jonathan Robinson’s shop, commissioning wearable tributes to their loved ones.

ANIMATED SHORT

· THE MUSICIAN – At the time of the attack of the Mongols, a young musician and the love of his life are separated from each other.

These features and shorts join Paramount+’s growing slate of original docuseries and documentaries available on the service, including FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, CONSOLE WARS, 76 DAYS, FROM CRADLE TO STAGE, 60 MINUTES+, THAT ANIMAL RESCUE SHOW, DREAM TEAM, BEHIND THE MUSIC and TEXAS 6. In addition to its original docuseries, Paramount+ also provides a vast library of award-winning documentaries and docuseries including “Cher & the Loneliest Elephant,” “Finding Justice,” “Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity,” “The Last Cowboy,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Bhutto,” “True Life,” “Break the Maya Code,” and more.

About Paramount+

Paramount+, a direct-to-consumer digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service from ViacomCBS, combines live sports, breaking news, and a mountain of entertainment. The premium streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, and the Smithsonian Channel. The service is also the streaming home to unmatched sports programming, including every CBS Sports event, from golf to football to basketball and more, plus exclusive streaming rights for major sports properties, including some of the world’s biggest and most popular soccer leagues. Paramount+ also enables subscribers to stream local CBS stations live across the U.S. in addition to the ability to stream ViacomCBS Streaming’s other live channels: CBSN for 24/7 news, CBS Sports HQ for sports news and analysis, and ET Live for entertainment coverage. For more information about Paramount+, please visit www.paramountplus.com and follow @ParamountPlus on social platforms.

About MTV Documentary Films

In less than three years, MTV Documentary Films has worked with high profile filmmakers on timely stories that have already garnered two Oscar®-nominations, a Peabody® Award, two Emmy®-nominations and an Emmy® win. Their first film out of the gate was the Oscar®-nominated St. Louis Superman followed by 76 Days set deep inside the frontlines of the pandemic in Wuhan, which won the Peabody, was Oscar Shortlisted (shortlist) for Best Documentary and won the Emmy® for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking; the Oscar®-nominated Hunger Ward; in addition to the Emmy®-nominated Finding Yingying; Beautiful Something Left Behind; American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself; 17 Blocks; A Life Too Short; and My Father The Mover. Their current slate of two features and five shorts includes: Ascension, which won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, is nominated for six Critics Choice Documentary Awards, a Gotham Award and is on the coveted Short List for both DOC NYC and IDA as well as Sabaya which won the World Cinema Documentary Director’s prize at Sundance.