Author Archives: basiltsiokos

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About basiltsiokos

Basil Tsiokos is a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on nonfiction features. He was most recently with DOC NYC for nearly a decade, where he served as Director of Programming since 2014, and with the Nantucket Film Festival as its Film Program Director. Prior to those positions, Basil was the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of NewFest. He has been affiliated with Sundance since 2005 as a Programming Associate. Basil serves on the feature nominating committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. He has written about documentaries daily since 2010 on what (not) to doc. Basil holds a Masters degree from New York University and two undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.

In Theatres: CIVIL WAR (OR, WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE)

Coming to NYC’s IFC Center today, Friday, September 17:
CIVIL WAR (OR, WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE)

Director:
Rachel Boynton

World Premiere:
Peacock release (June 2021)

About:
An exploration of how America remembers the Civil War and what the stories we tell reveal about who we are, from President Obama’s final year in office through the present.

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In Theatres: IN BALANCHINE’S CLASSROOM

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 17:
IN BALANCHINE’S CLASSROOM

Director:
Connie Hochman

World Premiere:
FilmFest DC 2021

Select Festivals:
SF Dance, Woodstock

About:
A look back at the glory years of George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet through the remembrances of his former dancers and their quest to fulfill the vision of a genius.

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In Theatres: SAVIOR FOR SALE: DA VINCI’S LOST MASTERPIECE?

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 17:
SAVIOR FOR SALE: DA VINCI’S LOST MASTERPIECE?

Director:
Antoine Vitkine

World Premiere:
French release (April 2021)

About:
A journey on the hidden trails of money, power, and deception behind the disputed rediscovered masterpiece.

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In Theatres: BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 17:
BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER

Director:
Thomas Hamilton

World Premiere:
theatrical release (September 2021)

About:
An exploration of the life, career, and legacy of William Henry Pratt, better known by his stage name, Boris Karloff.

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In Theatres: STORM LAKE

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 17:
STORM LAKE

Director:
Jerry Risius, Beth Levison

World Premiere:
Full Frame 2021

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Provincetown, Woods Hole, Berkshire, Freep, Woodstock

About:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen and his family and colleagues at Iowa’s Storm Lake Times fight for the survival of their biweekly small-town newspaper and for an informed electorate and functioning democracy.

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In Theatres: LITTLE GIRL

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
LITTLE GIRL

Director:
Sébastien Lifshitz

World Premiere:
Berlin 2020

Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Docs Against Gravity, Chicago, Ghent, Tokyo, Seville, MIX Brasil, Thessaloniki, Jerusalem, Seattle, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

About:
A portrait of an eight-year-old who wants to express her true gender identity.

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In Theatres: FERGUSON RISES

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
FERGUSON RISES

Director:
Mobolaji Olambiwonnu

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021

About:
Six years after the fatal shooting of an unarmed Michael Brown Jr by a white police officer, and the subsequent days of protest, a new portrait of the community of Ferguson.

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In Theatres: MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY

Director:
Betsy West, Julie Cohen

World Premiere:
Sundance 2021

Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Sheffield, Doc10, Provincetown, AFI Docs, Outfest

About:
A profile a long unheralded legal pioneer.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

In Theatres/Virtual Release: I AM NOT ALONE

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Thursday, September 16 and to virtual cinemas this Friday, September 17:
I AM NOT ALONE

Director:
Garin Hovannisian

World Premiere:
Toronto 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Palm Springs, Oxford, Thessaloniki Doc, Hong Kong

About:
An exploration of the 2018 Armenian revolution through the citizen activists who refused to accept it.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In 2018, Armenia experienced a peaceful revolution that’s inspiring to anyone challenging power. Nikol Pashinyan—a former journalist and political prisoner turned Member of Parliament—begins a march by himself to protest Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan trying to extend the reach of his power. The film observes how Pashinyan’s campaign slowly grows from one person into a mass movement. Briskly paced and offering a balance of perspectives, Garin Hovannisian’s film is a feat of nonfiction storytelling.

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On VOD: HER SOCIALIST SMILE

Coming to MUBI tomorrow, Thursday, September 16:
HER SOCIALIST SMILE

Director:
John Gianvito

World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2020

Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Jeonju, Viennale, Cinema du Reel, Hot Docs, Indielisboa

About:
A meditation on Helen Keller’s outspokenness on behalf of progressive causes.

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