In the first of three postings today about NYC festivals all starting this week, we’ll start with BAMcinemaFEST. Now in its third year, this BAM Rose Cinemas based event begins tomorrow and runs through June 26. More or less a successor to Sundance at BAM, which ran for three editions, this popular Brooklyn event features a great selection of strong films culled from top fests, including but no longer limited to Sundance – many films this year made their debuts at Berlin and SXSW. In addition, the fest features special retro and outdoor screenings.
Personally, I’m a fan of festivals like this, where the emphasis is placed more on spotlighting quality films for local audiences, not worrying about needing to have world premieres. I was thrilled that BAM’s programming staff selected THE CANAL STREET MADAM to make its NYC premiere in last year’s edition, and our team had a great response from the audience.
That said, among the documentary highlights on offer are SXSW titles ELEVATE, DRAGONSLAYER (pictured), LAST DAYS HERE, and WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM; Sundance titles IF A TREE FALLS, THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED, SENNA, and MAGIC TRIP; and Berlinale title THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE.
Other docs screening that I haven’t seen include SEPARADO! and JAMEL SHABAZZ STREET PHOTOGRAPHER (pictured). Beyond the docs, there are a number of great narratives, including the fantastic opener, WEEKEND.
what (not) to doc 