A documentary on whistle-blower Chelsea Manning, whose struggle with gender dysphoria coincided with a 35-year prison sentence for revealing state secrets, will be released at an unspecified date later this year with Showtime’s backing. The announcement on XY Chelsea was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. at the 2018 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.
Shot over two years by filmmaker Tim Travers Hawkins and featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes verite’ with Manning, the documentary picks up on the day she leaves prison thanks to a sentence commutation from President Obama. The documentary then follows her on a journey of discovery, while also examining her place in the conversation on national security and in the fight of the transgender community for rights and visibility.
Showtime will premiere XY Chelsea with a theatrical run, and then feature it on the network’s on-air, on demand and over the Internet platforms.
Produced by Pulse Films, the film is currently in post-production and will also premiere at an upcoming film festival to be announced at a later date.
XY Chelsea was directed by Hawkins and produced by Pulse Films in association with First Look Media’s Topic Studios, Field of Vision and British Film Institute. Thomas Benski, Julia Nottingham and Lucas Ochoa of Pulse Films are producers. Academy Award winner Laura Poitras, Mary Burke, Michael Bloom, Adam Pincus, Charlotte Cook, Sharon Chang, Blaine Vess and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos serve as executive producers.
Pulse Films was founded by Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford in 2005, and is headquartered in London with outposts in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Berlin. Its credits include feature films, including Andrea Arnold’s Cannes Jury Prize winner and BAFTA-nominated American Honey, Sundance Award winners The Witch and All These Sleepless Nights, Kahlil Joseph & Beyoncé’s Emmy-nominated Lemonade, and 2017’s London Film Festival hit Kingdom of US and Trophy. Recent TV projects include Black Is The New Black, Billion Dollar Deals, and the 10-part series Rock And Roll.
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