The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s popular BAMcinemaFest kicks off tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 15. This year’s edition, the eighth, will present nearly 30 features before it wraps on Sunday, June 26, among them eight recent documentaries from Sundance and elsewhere on the circuit and one retrospective presentation.
Several of the docs present portraits of seeming outsiders, including Park City alums AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY, Jeff Feuerzeig’s exploration of the infamous literary world figure; KIKI, Sara Jordenö’s profile of young participants in NYC’s ballroom subculture; and SUITED, Jason Benjamin’s look at tailors for a queer clientele. Also included here is TINY: THE LIFE OF ERIN BLACKWELL, Martin Bell’s revisitation of one of the most memorable subjects of his 1984 film on teen runaways, STREETWISE, screening in the same program.
Other nonfiction features offer broader meditations on modern life – Werner Herzog’s Internet-focused LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD (pictured) – or recent tragedies – Kim A Snyder’s consideration of a community reeling from gun violence, NEWTOWN.
Finally, a couple films play with documentary conventions, including Robert Greene’s KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE (pictured), which follows an actress as she tries to make sense of a challenging role; and Dean Fleischer-Camp’s FRAUD, whose exploration of typical family’s YouTube videos yields provocative results.
what (not) to doc 