(Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Patty Consolazio
If you've ever wondered what it would feel like to march fearlessly into the proverbial lion's den, Margaret Moth can show you the way. Never Look Away, which premiered January 18 in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, offers a fly-on-the-wall view of the intrepid Moth as a CNN wartime photojournalist who stations herself squarely in the epicenter of life, love, and peril.
As a former actor in television's Xena: Warrior Princess now working behind the scenes, Lucy Lawless brings her directorial debut to this year's Festival, offering a glimpse into Moss' adult journey starting in Houston, Texas, 7,500 miles from her enigmatic childhood home in New Zealand. The free-spirited, pipe-smoking Moth spends her days living, tripping, and loving in hyperdrive - boring people need not apply.
Lawless was caught off guard by the request to film Moth's documentary. I got a kind of a cold call; an email from Joe Duran, who was in the film as Margaret's best friend and the heir to her estate, which was a suitcase of memories and a few treasures in there, and he said, Do you want to make a film about Margaret Moth?' Lawless recalls, in the post-premiere Q&A session.
Yes! I will find the money! I will get this movie made! I will find the producers! she exclaims. Then when I pushed send, I said, Oh my god, who am I to say this! I'm not qualified to make those promises. I've never done this before.' But I've been owned by Margaret ever since.
Candid, colorful interviews with friends, colleagues, siblings, and romantic interests shine a light on Moth beyond her lust for life and her bravado, painting a picture of a tender, sometimes insecure woman whose passion for filming the worst of humanity might be as much about stirring up outrage as it is about being in the action.
To Moth, the world needs to see her footage, lest we all go about our business and mocha lattes, oblivious to the atrocities being committed around the world. Rwanda. Kuwait. The West Bank. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lebanon. Georgia. Saudi Arabia. Wherever she goes, she unflinchingly captures the violence and suffering inflicted on innocent civilians.
The indomitable Moth commands both ends of her camera with gusto. Here's a woman who smoked cigars with U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf. Who also stood and filmed an active shooter while other crews hid behind cars, thus capturing the only footage of a massacre. Her colleagues know that when they can't find her, she's behind her camera, filming something big and often terrible.
And when everything changes for Moth in one fateful moment, she is left to reconsider her priorities and determine who she will be going forward.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2024
BOSTON Collaborative video workflow solutions provided EditShare has named Brad Turner as CEO....
11/12/2024
NEW YORK Time spent watching TV in November reached a nine-month high as streaming grabbed a record share of TV viewing, accounting for 41.6% viewing, according...
11/12/2024
WASHINGTON The Advanced Television Systems Committee has elected Ling Ling Sun, chief technology officer at Nebraska Public Media, and Ed Czarnecki, vice presid...
11/12/2024
BRISTOL, Conn. Now that the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff lineup is set, ESPN Fantasy is launching the College Football Playoff Bracket Challenge P...
11/12/2024
SINGAPORE Mediacorp, Singapore's largest media conglomerate, has selected Lawo's advanced IP broadcast technology for its alternative broadcast center (...
11/12/2024
Cromorama Simplifies Color Management and Quality Control for Live Productions w...
11/12/2024
Berklee Announces 2025 Spring Signature Series This season's lineup features a Fleetwood Mac tribute, a mambo big band celebration, a gospel music extrava...
10/12/2024
At the top of each year, we introduce the film and TV landscape to groundbreaking projects when they premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Many earn recogniti...
10/12/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 20: (Top Row L-R) Patrice Bowman, Jarobi Moorhead, Greg Harriott, Ayana Enomoto-Hurst, Director Joe Brewster, Chris Pattishal and Terr...
10/12/2024
Pioneering satellite communication technology supports critical GEO/NGSO trackin...
10/12/2024
L3Harris is building 18 space vehicles for SDA's Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program, designed to provide near-global missile warning and tracking capability....
10/12/2024
EditShare Announces Brad Turner as New Chief Executive Officer
Boston, MA, 10 December 2024 - EditShare, a leading provider of collaborative workflow solution...
10/12/2024
The AWARN Alliance last month appointed Dave Arland as its new executive director, succeeding longtime leader and ATSC 3.0 advocate John Lawson....
10/12/2024
Zeam Media reported that its hyperlocal streaming service has increased its daily viewership by 168% since its launch in February, when it powered Paramount+...
10/12/2024
Charter Communications has agreed to pay a $1.1 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission for violations of emergency alert regulations and has ente...
10/12/2024
OpenAI made its Sora generative AI video tool available to the public on Monday, 10 months after its soft beta launch in February. The new version Sora Turbo th...
10/12/2024
TVBEurope talks to Peter Bellamy about his appointment as CRO at Deltatre, and w...
10/12/2024
Shares in Canal will be traded in London, Paris and Amsterdam
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: December 10, 2024
Shares in Canal will be traded in London,...
10/12/2024
The Portal offers technology buyers and vendors insights into the broadcast and media technology, pro AV, ad tech and sports industries
By Jenny Priestley
Pu...
10/12/2024
Visual Productions has released its new RdmNode, a system integration and fixed installation-oriented DIN rail-mounted Art-net, sACN and DMX (digital multiplex)...
10/12/2024
Why Country Music is Topping Charts and Filling Arenas Country has exploded in popularity as new artists-and fans-flood in.
By
Alexander Gelfand
December 1...
10/12/2024
Krisha Marcanos Goals for Conservatorys Theater Division: Refine, Level Up, Focu...
10/12/2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio Chad Budreau has joined the Ohio Association of Broadcasters as president, effective today. He joins the group after 15 years with the Academy of...
10/12/2024
NEW YORK In a notable sign that companies are hoping for a much more relaxed regulatory attitude towards big corporate mergers in the upcoming Trump administrat...
10/12/2024
Charter Communications has agreed to pay a $1.1 million fine to the FCC for violations of emergency alert regulations and has entered into a consent decree with...
10/12/2024
New PD Series portable monitoring unit and Evie64m networking module provides easy monitoring of up to 64 MilanTM audio channels
Audio-over-IP specialist, Nixe...
10/12/2024
Create a Photo Slideshow using After Effects
Graham Quince December 9, 2024
0 Comments
A guide to showing how to place loads of images on a timeline a...
10/12/2024
I created a (free) compositing software
Alex Perea December 9, 2024
0 Comments
In this video, I show you an overview of Illusion FX, a new (free) comp...
10/12/2024
Yacht Rock: Smooth Sailing on Rocky Waters Read about how the soft-rock genre has weathered the test of time, and listen to a playlist of some of the best yac...
10/12/2024
Artificial intelligence, once the realm of science fiction, claimed its place at the pinnacle of scientific achievement Monday in Sweden.
In a historic ceremon...
10/12/2024
Since its release, Jacques Audiard s Emilia P rez has emerged as a landmark feature, earning widespread acclaim from critics and garnering significant recogniti...
10/12/2024
SVG All-Stars: Pam Chvotkin, Remote Operations Management Freelancer The D.C. native brings her skills to major broadcasts all over the country By Brandon Cost...
10/12/2024
SVG Summit 2024: Day 1 Morning Workshops Include SVGW, Live Production, Content ...
10/12/2024
ESL FACEIT Group's Guillermo Parga on How DreamHack Dallas Has Become an Esp...
10/12/2024
EditShare Names Brad Turner CEO, Succeeding Ramu Potarazu Potarazu will continue as a member of the company's board By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director...
10/12/2024
Fred Gerling, Father of the Expando Chassis, Dies at 79 His commitment to next-generation design helped transform truck operations By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editori...
10/12/2024
MLB Network Lights Up the Hot Stove With Live Coverage of the 2024 MLB Winter Me...
10/12/2024
TNT Sports' NBA 2K25 DataCasts Blur Line Between Video Game and Live Broadca...
10/12/2024
2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Andrea Kremer, the Journalist Who Spoke T...
10/12/2024
Rohde & Schwarz sets new standard for network performance monitoring with R&S LC...
10/12/2024
To coincide with the release of Gladiator 2', we wanted to highlight St phane Buchers work with director Ridley Scott. This collaboration began in 2020, fo...
10/12/2024
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today launched three new live global radio stations on Apple Music. Music fans around the world can now tune in to Apple M sica Uno,...
10/12/2024
ABS (Agility Beyond Space) Announces Bruno d'Espinay as Chief Business Devel...
10/12/2024
Over 1.6 million people watched across the weekend
Record breaking RT Player Toy Show Streams in Ireland and Abroad with 622,000 streams from 139 countries
O...
10/12/2024
This Sunday night (15 December, 9.30pm), live on RT One and RT Player, Joanne Cantwell, Darragh Maloney and Jacqui Hurley will present the RT Sport Awards 20...
10/12/2024
Actor and producer Danny O'Carroll, best known for portraying Buster Brady o...
10/12/2024
Quantum computing has the potential to transform industries ranging from drug di...
10/12/2024
Scripps Research scientists create AI that watches videos by mimicking the brain A new, more sustainable AI model recognizes visual scenes by mirroring brain ...
09/12/2024
Bold factual series lead the charge for SBS nominations at the 2025 AACTA Awards
7 December, 2024
Media releases
Plus, NITV children's programs and div...
(Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
