Watch the trailer for the HBO Documentary Films release below:
Emmy winners Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (Inside Deep Throat; HBO鈥檚 Wishful Drinking and Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures) produced and directed the film, which made its world premiere at the DOC NYC Festival November 12 at IFC Center.
Every Brilliant Thing, according to HBO, 鈥渙pens as Donahoe greets the arriving audience with handwritten notes instructing them to participate when called upon. He then proceeds to tell a story spanning nearly three decades and several life-changing events, evoking laughter and tears in equal measure. Donahoe charms spectators into acting opposite him in various roles, fostering an intimate sense of community through comic dialogues. Striking a delicate balance between sobering loss and cathartic laughter, the film doesn鈥檛 flinch from harsh realities, as Donahoe muses on everything from Marilyn Monroe鈥檚 death, to the Samaritans鈥� rules for reporting on suicide, which highlight everything the media typically gets wrong.鈥�
(Updated December 26, 2016)