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Gibney doc cut from Hot Docs, Tribeca

A documentary from Oscar winner Alex Gibney has been pulled from this month’s Tribeca and Hot Docs festivals due to legal issues.

Alex Gibney

The doc in question, No Stone Unturned, looks at an incident in which six men were shot and killed, and five more were wounded, in a pub in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, during a 1994 World Cup football game. It was produced by Fine Point Films in association with Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.

While the exact nature of the legal issue has not been disclosed, Fine Point producer Trevor Birney said: “We are bitterly disappointed that as a result of ongoing legal issues relating to the subject matter of the film, No Stone Unturned is not yet ready to be screened.

“No one will feel this disappointment more than the families at the centre of the film, whose quest for justice has been both inspiring and unstinting these last 23 years. It is our deepest hope that these sensitive issues can be resolved as soon as possible so that we can share this important film with the world.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Hot Docs added: “We are disappointed by this unfortunate development and that our audiences will not be able to experience this remarkable film.”

The doc was set to world premiere at Tribeca in New York on April 23, before having its international premiere in Canada a few days later.

The news marks the second major doc to be yanked from a high-profile festival line-up this year. In January, a sequel to Wim Wenders’ classic doc The Buena Vista Social Club, directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker, was pulled from the Sundance Film Festival at the last minute. At the time, distributor Broad Green Pictures said only that the post-production process for the film was taking longer than expected.

This is also not the first time one of Gibney’s films has generated headlines. Prior docs covering the likes of Wikileaks, Scientology, cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams have all proven controversial.

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