‘Argonauts at the End of History,’ directed by Sierra Pettingill.
Courtesy of CIFF
Entertainment
Simon & Schuster Faces Questions Over Jason Arday Memoir
Simon & Schuster is facing new questions about its handling of Jason Arday’s memoir, “Great and Unfortunate Things,” after publicly standing behind the book and its editorial review despite mounting scrutiny of the late University of Cambridge professor’s academic work and autobiographical claims.
TheWrap sought comment from Simon & Schuster multiple times on Monday, including asking whether the publisher is reassessing the book and whether it has asked retailers or booksellers to pause additional orders. The publisher did not respond.
Simon & Schuster had previously defended its editorial process as scrutiny of Arday intensified before publication. “We have worked closely with Professor Jason Arday on ‘Great and Unfortunate Things’ since acquiring it and can speak to the professionalism and integrity he has brought to every stage of the publication,” the publisher said in a statement previously provided to The Guardian.
The publisher said Arday, co-writer Eve Claxton and its editorial and legal teams worked together to “carefully research, write and corroborate the narrative.” When The Guardian asked for more information about the book’s fact-checking, Simon & Schuster said it did not comment on its editorial processes.
Some of Arday’s previously publicized claims were revised or did not appear in the finished memoir. The Sunday Times reported that Simon & Schuster changed Arday’s online author biography last year, removing references to claims that he had run 30 marathons in 35 days, 300 miles in three days and 600 miles in six days. A claim that he had raised more than £5.5 million ($7.45 million) for 80 national charities over a 20-year period was changed to the broader assertion that he had raised “millions of pounds for charity.”
Several of those claims were also absent from the finished memoir. The book does not include the 600-mile running claim or provide a definitive figure for Arday’s fundraising, according to the Times. The Times had previously reported that a proposal for the memoir included claims that Arday had testicular cancer and locked-in syndrome and almost died in a car accident as a teenager. Those references were not included in the published book.
The Guardian separately reported that journalist Benjamin Ryan published screenshots of different versions of the manuscript that appeared to show changes to language surrounding Arday’s fundraising. The reasons for those changes are unclear. Simon & Schuster did not respond to questions about whether concerns over any of Arday’s claims prompted revisions or what review and corroboration it conducted before publication.
Simon & Schuster proceeded with publication after Arday resigned from Cambridge on Aug. 5 following scrutiny of his academic record and personal history, including allegations that portions of his doctoral thesis had been plagiarized. Arday denied intentionally plagiarizing his work.
The following day, Simon & Schuster U.S. told The Guardian it was “proceeding with the publication of ‘Great and Unfortunate Things’ by Jason Arday as planned.” The book was released in the U.S. five days later.
Arday was found dead on Friday at age 41. Police said his death was unexpected but was not being treated as suspicious. His death has since prompted an intense debate in Britain over the scrutiny he faced in the weeks before his death.
The scrutiny has also brought renewed attention to Arday’s memoir. Writer Thomas Chatterton Williams pointed to the book’s apparent momentum Friday, writing on X that it was “on its way to becoming a bestseller” and questioning Simon & Schuster’s decision to continue selling it.
As of Monday, “Great and Unfortunate Things” ranked No. 1 in Amazon’s Disability Biographies and Emigrants & Immigrants Biographies categories and No. 33 in the broader Biographies & Memoirs category. Those rankings do not establish that the book is a national bestseller. Circana, which tracks U.S. print book sales through BookScan, told TheWrap Monday that sales data covering the week ending Aug. 15 will become available Thursday.
Simon & Schuster also did not say whether corrections or changes are being considered for future editions or whether it has considered suspending sales or withdrawing the memoir. The publisher’s website continued to list the U.S. edition for sale Monday, describing it as an “inspiring underdog story” tracing Arday’s journey from being a nonverbal autistic child to becoming one of Cambridge’s youngest professors.
While the memoir was released in the U.S. on Aug. 11, Simon & Schuster’s U.K. edition is currently scheduled for Aug. 27. The publisher did not respond Monday when asked whether it is reassessing the title.
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Buckle up, “Slow Horses” fans. Things are about to get bumpy for the misfit residents of MI5’s Slough House (again).
Apple TV unveiled Tuesday morning the first trailer for “Slow Horses” Season 6. Based on author Mick Herron’s 2019 novel “Joe Country,” the new season catches back up with Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and the other members of Slough House as they find themselves hunted for unknown reasons by a pair of anonymous assassins (“Andor” star Kyle Soller and “The Witcher” star MyAnna Buring).
The growing number of deaths force ex-Slow Horse Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) back into the fold, and she is not the only familiar face featured in the “Slow Horses” Season 6 trailer. Hugo Weaving is also set to make his return as Frank Harkness, River’s merciless mercenary father, who has not been seen since the “Slow Horses” Season 4 finale.
Even more notably, the “Slow Horses” Season 6 trailer concludes with the long-awaited return of “House of the Dragon” star Olivia Cooke as Sidonie “Sid” Baker, the former MI5 operative that River and co. were led to believe was killed early in the show’s first season.
You can check out her return yourself in the Season 6 trailer below.
While “Slow Horses” Season 6 is shaping up to be the show’s sixth season in just four years, it is notable for being the first made without the involvement of longtime showrunner Will Smith. As he disclosed to TheWrap last year, Smith was forced to step away from the Apple TV hit due to scheduling issues.
Gaby Chiappe was tapped to serve as the head writer of “Slow Horses” Season 6 in Smith’s place. Ben Vanstone is on deck to fill that role for Season 7.
Smith’s absence will no doubt be cause for some concern among “Slow Horses” fans, and it remains to be seen how well the Apple TV series survives the behind-the-scenes leadership change. That said, the “Slow Horses” Season 6 does tease many of the same, familiar thrills that fans have come to expect from the series, including some high-stakes action set pieces and more prickly banter between Oldman’s Jackson Lamb and Kristin Scott Thomas’ Diana Taverner.
“Slow Horses” Season 6 premieres Wednesday, Sept. 16 on Apple TV.
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The Slough House gang are on the run in the trailer for Slow Horses Season 6.
A new trailer for darkly comic Apple TV spy thriller shows Jack Lamb’s (Gary Oldman) team embroiled in Diana Taverner’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) fatal high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge.
“I cannot emphasize this enough: Stay dark, yeah? No phones,” he shouts. Cue a hard cut to computer hacker Roddy Ho (Christopher Chang) calling Lamb via cell. “What don’t you understand about going dark?” shouts Lamb.
The trailer also provides one more big surprise: The return of Olivia Cooke as disappeared MI5 agent Sid Baker, who is seen waiting for waiting at the top of a flight of stairs. “Hello River,” she says with a smirk as Jack Lowden’s River Cartwright stops dead in his tracks. Sid was last seen at the end of Season 1.
Adapted from Mick Herron’s Joe Country and Slough House novels, the six-episode Season 6 will also star the likes of Saskia Reeves, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Rosalind Eleazar, Joanna Scanlan, Samuel West, Ruth Bradley, Tom Brooke, Jonathan Pryce, Hugo Weaving and newcomer Lenny Rush.
The season launches on September 16, just under a year after the debut on Season 5, which garnered nine Primetime Emmy nominations.
Slow Horses stars Oldman as Lamb, a brilliant but cantankerous leader of dysfunctional spies who have made career-ending mistakes and end up at a dumping ground MI5 unit known as Slough House.
See-Saw Films makes the show for Apple TV, with with Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Julian Stevens, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Adam Randall, Gail Mutrux, Douglas Urbanski and Oldman serving as executive producers. Co-executive producer Gaby Chiappe has adapted the season, with Adam Randall returning to direct.
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EXCLUSIVE: The 22nd edition of the Camden International Film Festival will feature some of the biggest names in documentary film and some of the most hotly anticipated titles.
The prestigious cinematic event in mid-coast Maine, running September 17-20, revealed its lineup Tuesday. The slate boasts Oscar winner Alex Gibney with his documentary Musk, about the world’s richest man and his lurch rightward; two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple with her documentary Union Town, about labor organizing in New York City; Free Solo Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin returning to Camden with another mountainous film – Everest: The Other Side. Oscar winner Laura Poitras brings her latest, the short documentary They’re Here, co-directed by Rachel Lauren Mueller.
Joshua Oppenheimer, a two-time Oscar nominee, will be represented at Camden with his short doc The Revolution Against Death. Among other prominent filmmakers at Camden are Sierra Pettingill with the world premiere of Argonauts at the End of History; Nanette Burstein (Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff); Luke Lorentzen (Boatbuilders), and Sam Pollard (Tutu).
The main slate is stacked with 37 U.S., North American and world premieres. Two strong Oscar contenders that premiered earlier in the year at Sundance – Once Upon a Time in Harlem and To Hold a Mountain – also join the CIFF lineup. Scroll for the full lineup of features and shorts.
Audiences attend a CIFF screening.
Courtesy of CIFF
“A program of the Points North Institute, CIFF stands among the world’s most influential platforms for cinematic nonfiction, showcasing groundbreaking work from global filmmakers in an intimate, small-town setting on the coast of Maine,” notes a release. “It is one of the largest documentary industry gatherings in the U.S., serving as both a launchpad for Oscar campaigns and a gateway for international filmmakers to reach American audiences, distributors and production partners.”
‘No Money, No Honey,’ directed by Nicole Costa.
Courtesy of CIFF
Joining Sierra Pettingill’s Argonauts at the End of History on the roster of world premieres features are Hubert Taylor and Cyrus Moussavi’s Windows of Time; Nicole Costa’s No Money No Honey, and Grace Harper Brighouse’s Dependence, which “uses the camera to reconnect with her father, estranged after years of his OxyContin addiction.”
“When it feels as though everything is recorded and nothing is remembered, the filmmakers here look closer and stay longer,” commented Sean Flynn, artistic director and Points North co-founder. “Just as photographers use long exposures to turn faint light into indelible images, they have spent years, sometimes decades, patiently telling stories that guide our frayed attention back toward what is most precious, most alive and human, most deserving of protection and preservation.”
Along with Flynn, this year’s festival was curated by Senior Programmer Zaina Bseiso, Festival Manager Morgan Hulquist, and programming associates Gugi Gumilang (Features) and Nehal Vyas (Shorts).
“Time moves differently across this program, expanding, compressing or coming to a pause to reveal what might otherwise remain unseen,” observed Bseiso. “In the hands of these filmmakers, the manipulation of time brings obscured or unexplored patterns into focus while foregrounding what is truly unique to cinema.”
CIFF takes place at venues in Camden and Rockport, Maine. The festival awards prizes in two major juried competitions — the Harrell Award and Cinematic Vision competitions. For the second year, the Fowlie Audience Award — named after CIFF founder Ben Fowlie — will be presented to the film rated highest by audience members, with the winner receiving a $10,000 cash prize.
Points North Executive Director Elise McCave and Artistic Director and Points North Co-Founder Sean Flynn.
Courtesy of CIFF
“The conditions for making independent documentary have rarely been harder, and the need for it has rarely been clearer,” noted Points North Executive Director Elise McCave. “Funding has contracted, distribution has narrowed, and filmmakers are being asked to justify work that takes years to do properly. What our 2026 program demonstrates is that they are doing it anyway. Our job is to make sure that when they arrive here in Maine, they find an audience, a market, and a community equal to what they have made.”
YETI, RandomGood Foundation, The deNovo Initiative, and LEF Foundation return as headline sponsors of the festival, joined by Points North Institute supporters the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Maine Office of Tourism.
The CIFF slate is once again international in scope with films originating from Palestine, Algeria, South Africa, China, Vietnam, Japan, Montenegro, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
This is the lineup announced Tuesday:
2026 Camden International Film Festival
Features
Alea Jacarandas | Hassen Ferhani | Algeria, France | U.S. Premiere
In Algiers, a writer embarks on a poetic mapping of jacarandas, those purple-flowering trees from Latin America. His filmmaker son follows him on this intimate journey.
Argonauts at the End of History | Sierra Pettengill | United States, Georgia, Ukraine | World Premiere
A group of sailors from the USSR join a race around the world, navigating wild seas, personal tragedy and the end of the Cold War.
Atlas of Disappearance | Manuel Correa | Spain | North American Premiere
Atlas of Disappearance exposes Valle de los Caídos, where technology unearths the truth buried beneath fascist monumentality.
Baby Jackfruit, Baby Guava | Nông Nhật Quang | Vietnam, Korea | US Premiere
When an unplanned baby enters the lives of a conservative mother, neurodivergent daughter and detached gay son, the trio travels back in time through their diaries and family photos to mend ruptured bonds and prepare for a new cycle of motherhood.
Boatbuilders | Luke Lorentzen | United States | North American Premiere
Over the course of 16 months, at the head of a remote harbor in Maine, the workers of the Brooklin Boat Yard meticulously build a 56-foot wooden sailboat. As the seasons change and the vessel takes shape, director Luke Lorentzen immerses the viewer in a close-knit community rooted in time-honored craft, shared joys, and mutual respect.
Bucks Harbor | Pete Muller | United States
In a rural lobster fishing village, Bucks Harbor explores manhood, community and survival in a harsh and beautiful world.
Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff | Nanette Burstein | United States
An intimate portrait of visionary astronomer, author and television star Carl Sagan, whose groundbreaking ideas transformed our understanding of the cosmos and human existence.
Ceremony | Banchi Hanuse | Canada
As the Nuxalk trace their vanished ooligan through settler tapes and a historic land claim, their radio station becomes courtroom, confessional and conjuring ground. The fish and the people return together or not at all.
Dependence | Grace Harper Brighouse | United Kingdom | World Premiere
Sifting through a lifetime of home movies, a family navigates the slow reality of OxyContin addiction and the sharp, sudden shock of profound grief. In an accumulation of ordinary moments, Dependence is a portrait of loving someone you cannot save.
Everest: The Other Side | Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | United States, China, Nepal
Elite ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson share an audacious dream: to climb up and ski down the direct North Face of Everest, taking on one of the most dangerous routes on the world’s tallest mountain. Blending breathtaking spectacle and romance, this is an epic story of resilience and transcendence.
How To Clean A House In 10 Easy Steps | Carolina Gonzalez Valencia | United States
Beatriz Valencia, a domestic worker in the United States, and Carolina, her daughter and filmmaker, collaborate to create the fictional character of a writer.
The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer | Alessandra Sanguinetti | Argentina
Filmed over 25 years by photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, two cousins grow up in the Pampas of Argentina in this stirring portrait of rural life and celebration of female friendship.
Jaripeo | Efraín Mojica, Rebecca Zweig | Mexico, United States, France
Jaripeo journeys to Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos. What starts as a celebration of tradition descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing. A reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.
Jean-Michel Basquiat | Quinn Whitney Wilson, Viridiana Lieberman | United States
Jean-Michel Basquiat is a reclamation of what has been lost in the legacy of a globally renowned artist.
mother, you have not died yet. but you will. and when you do, you will finally be alive again. | Advik Beni | South Africa, United States | North American Premiere
In Durban’s Indian township, where post-apartheid violence still simmers, Lishana tends to her dying mother. Through photography, she reflects on life and death, past and present, oscillating between the tangible and mystical.
Musk | Alex Gibney | United States | U.S. Premiere
An incisive look behind the legend of Elon Musk, the world’s most heralded “inventor-entrepreneur,” who has enormous influence on the world in which we all live.
No Money No Honey | Nicole Costa | Chile, United States | World Premiere
Revisiting old VHS tapes, Máxima Mauricio, an Argentine sex worker, longs for her golden days in Miami while confronting a childhood marked by neglect and abuse. As she reconciles with her past, she finds strength in friends and the trans community.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem | William Greaves, David Greaves | United States
A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.
Past Future Continuous | Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani | Iran, Norway, Italy | North American Premiere
Past Future Continuous is an intimate, poetic documentary exploring exile and memory. It offers a timely reflection on displacement, identity and the longing for home.
Replica | Chouwa Liang | China, France | U.S. Premiere
Young Chinese women turn to AI companions in search of the love they feel is missing from their lives — but are chatbots the answer, or are they standing in the way of real human connection?
Revolutionaries Never Die | Mohanad Yaqubi | Palestine, Belgium, Qatar | U.S. Premiere
Revolutionaries Never Die explores the politics of memory and the profound capacity of filmmaking to navigate the complexities of grief by looking at the archives of Jocelyne Saab.
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing | Erik Shirai | Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Denmark
SUMO: Spirit Weighs Nothing is the first-ever documentary feature to reveal the secret world of sumo wrestling to international audiences, all from the unique perspective of the famed wrestlers themselves.
Thanks for Coming | Alain Cavalier | France | U.S. Premiere
The final episode of Alain Cavalier’s video diary. “Le Filmeur” traces his late life trough the approach of death and the beauty of life intertwine with his doubts and contradictions as he encounters others.
To Hold a Mountain | Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić | Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia
In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground for mortar shelling, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.
Tutu | Sam Pollard | United States | North American Premiere
Through never-before-seen archival footage and first-hand accounts of those who knew him best, the film traces Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s rise as the voice of the oppressed, guided by faith, hope and an understanding of the power of forgiveness.
Union Town | Barbara Kopple | United States | U.S. Premiere
Union Town completes Barbara Kopple’s (Harlan County, U.S.A, American Dream) trilogy on labor rights. Set in New York City, the film follows delivery industry workers as they take on some of the world’s most powerful corporations, revealing the challenges, passion and humanity at the heart of this growing labor movement.
Whispers in the Woods | Vincent Munier | France
In the deep snow of the Vosges mountains in France, a father breaking trail urges his son to follow in his footsteps. Wildlife photographer and filmmaker Vincent Munier earned these woods from his own father. Together, three generations of naturalists wait in blinds for the appearance of lynx, deer, owls, and the near-mythical capercaillie.
Windows of Time | Hubert Taylor, Cyrus Moussavi | United States | World Premiere
Driven by a divine vision, filmmaker Hubert Taylor spent forty years capturing hundreds of hours of footage celebrating Black life in South Georgia. Windows of Time weaves this extraordinary archive into an intimate portrait of Hubert’s father, the legendary gospel singer Brother Theotis Taylor, their tight-knit community, and filmmaking as an act of love and liberation for a prodigal son.
Shorts
The Architect Who Built His Own Collapse | Chun Tien Chen | Taiwan | North American Premiere
Children & Animals | Walker Kalan | United States
Claws for Concern | Julia Forsyth| United States
The Coral and The Copepod | Jason Jaacks | United States | World Premiere
The Coral Rescuers | Jason Spingarn-Koff | United States
Fish Film | Emma Baiada | United States | World Premiere
For a Moment the Clouds Parted and I Felt the Sun | Jared Lank | United States | World Premiere
Ghazal-e Sorkh | Maryam Tafakory | Iran, United Kingdom, France | U.S. Premiere
Guided Tour | Alba Jaramillo | France, Puerto Rico | U.S. Premiere
If You Don’t Like It, Look Away | Margaux Fournier | France
In the Morning Sun | Serville Poblete | Philippines, Canada
Isla & Isla (Work in Progress) | Mike Day | Scotland
Listen | Taliesin Black-Brown | United States
Lovely Butterfly | Fairouz Hasan | Palestine | U.S. Premiere
May the Water Not Freeze | Zahira Hafeeza Chaudhry | United States
Obscura | Timoteus Anggawan Kusno | Indonesia, Netherlands | North American Premiere
Of Indigo and Iron | Alec Ybarra | El Salvador | World Premiere
Of Your Tenderness | Zoulikha Tahar | France | World Premiere
Oxbow | Greg Kohs | United States, Japan
Pacífico | Daniel Duque | France, Colombia | North American Premiere
Plant Life | Brett Marty, Josh Izenberg | United States
Rare Bird | Juliana Schatz Preston | United States | World Premiere
The Revolution Against Death | Joshua Oppenheimer | Denmark, Sweden, United States
River | Emily Cohen Ibanez | United States, Colombia | World Premiere
Same Water | Martine Granby | United States
S’Ardia | Billy Barraclough | Italy | World Premiere
Sea Change | Chiara Hollender | United States | World Premiere
So God Made An Oil Worker | Jeanne Zhen Zhang | United States | World Premiere
Steward·Ship | Luke Kaneb | United States
Sweetgrass | Mike Sockabasin, Emily Karlik | United States | World Premiere
Test Track | Lydia Cornett | United States | U.S. Premiere
They’re Here | Laura Poitras, Rachel Lauren Mueller | United States | North American Premiere
What We Said to Brussels Airlines | Collectif Faire-Part | Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo | North American Premiere
A Wolf in the Suburbs | Amélie Hardy | Canada
About Points North
Established in 2016, Points North Institute is the launching pad for the next generation of nonfiction storytellers. Building on the success of the Camden International Film Festival, Points North brings together a unique, interdisciplinary community of filmmakers, artists, journalists, industry leaders, and audiences, forming a creative hub on the coast of Maine where new stories and talent are discovered, collaborations are born, and the future of nonfiction media is shaped. Programs include the annual Camden International Film Festival and Points North Forum, as well as a year-round calendar of artist development initiatives that nurture the careers of diverse nonfiction storytellers and help them develop a stronger artistic voice.
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