Festival:
The 78th Venice International Film Festival
Dates:
September 1-11
About:
The A list Italian festival returns with approximately 80 features, among them just 14 documentaries, while the autonomous sidebars present 17 docs among their 38 feature presentations, including the following.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to PBS tomorrow, Tuesday, August 31:
GENERATION 9/11
Director:
Liz Mermin
World Premiere:
PBS broadcast (August 2021)
About:
An exploration of the tragedy and legacy of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 through the stories of seven children whose fathers died that day.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, August 30:
THE SONG OF THE BUTTERFLIES
Director:
Nuria Frigola Torrent
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2020
Select Festivals:
Seattle, Guadalajara, Havana, Lima
About:
Finding himself stumped for artistic inspiration, an Indigenous painter travels from Lima to his ancestral land in Amazonia, absorbing his family’s stories and finding the strength to confront the painful past of a people nearly extinguished.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, August 28:
SEARCHERS
Director:
Pacho Velez
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Visions du Reel, Minneapolis-St Paul, AFI Docs
About:
An exploration of online dating apps and the need for human connection during a time of enforced isolation.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 27:
UNAPOLOGETIC
Director:
Ashley O’Shay
World Premiere:
BlackStar 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New Orleans, Black Harvest, St Louis, Cucalorus, Big Sky Doc, Athena, Cleveland, Human Rights Watch, Outfest Fusion
About:
Two fierce abolitionist leaders offer a deep look into the movement for Black Lives.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Fed up with misdeeds committed by Chicago law enforcement and a political system unwilling to hold anyone accountable, two millennial Black women take action. Spoken-word artist Bella and PhD candidate Janaé work tirelessly rallying the community and challenging a power structure that historically turns a deaf ear to young, Black, female voices. Over the course of a year, filmmaker Ashley O’Shay documents these courageous activists in their quest for political liberation and social justice.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Discovery+ today, Thursday, August 26, and to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 27:
LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD
Director:
Jeremy Workman
World Premiere:
BlackStar 2020
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Florida, Ashland, Minneapolis-St Paul, San Francisco, Maryland, RiverRun, Sarasota
About:
20-year-old Lily Hevesh—the world’s greatest domino toppler and the only woman in her field—in a coming-of-age story of artistry, passion, and unlikely triumph.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to MUBI today, Thursday, August 26:
BUDDY
Director:
Heddy Honigmann
World Premiere:
IDFA 2018
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Visions du Reel, DOXA, Documentary Fortnight, Bergen, Dokfest Munich,
About:
From enabling people to occupy public spaces to easing anxieties around social interactions, dogs help their humans navigate physical and emotional living.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to MUBI today, Wednesday, August 25:
PURPLE SEA
Director:
Amel Alzakout, Khaled Abdulwahed
World Premiere:
Berlin 2020
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Visions du Reel, Doclisboa, Ann Arbor, RIDM, Camden
About:
Made from images filmed by the Syrian artist Amel Alzakout after the boat on which she was fleeing Syria sank off the coast of Lesbos, a revisitation of the moment in which the co-director and the other passengers are floating in the sea in their life-jackets, waiting to be rescued.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
KIPCHOGE: THE LAST MILESTONE
Director:
Jake Scott
World Premiere:
VOD release (August 2021)
About:
Kenyan Olympic runner Eliud Kipchoge dreams of completing a marathon distance of less than two hours.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films screening tomorrow, Wednesday, August 25:
ONCE UPON A TIME IN QUEENS
Director:
Nick Davis
World Premiere:
Rooftop Films (August 2021)
About:
The first two parts of ESPN’s 30 for 30 multi-part profile of one of the most dominating, infamous, and magical teams of all-time: the 1986 Mets.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 