Opening this Friday, August 20: THE TILLMAN STORY
Premiering at Sundance earlier this year, Amir Bar-Lev’s expose of the US military’s cover-up of the death by friendly fire of professional football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman was very well received and scored a distribution deal with The Weinstein Company. Recently, as happened with its fellow Sundance alum A FILM UNFINISHED, the Weinsteins unsuccessfully faced off against the MPAA over an R rating, due in large part over the language in the documentary – the film was originally announced with the title I’M PAT ____ TILLMAN, referring to some of the Tillman family’s propensity for swearing.
Director Bar-Lev has consistently crafted engaging, thought-provoking work, and in THE TILLMAN STORY, he asks the audience to consider how and why we choose our heroes. At its core, the documentary questions not only the propaganda-making of a government at war, but the public’s willingness to buy what the government is selling.
Update: indieWIRE has a review of the film here.
what (not) to doc 