Coming to Netflix’s UNTOLD series tomorrow, Tuesday, August 10:
MALICE AT THE PALACE
Director:
Floyd Russ
World Premiere:
Netflix (August 2021)
About:
Key figures from an infamous 2004 incident between players and fans at an NBA game in Michigan discuss the fight, its fallout, and its lasting legacy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to MUBI today, Monday, August 9:
GENERATIONS
Director:
Lynne Siefert
World Premiere:
Berlin 2020
About:
Thirteen static shots of coal-fired power stations across the United States.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to MUBI tomorrow, Saturday, August 7:
STYLE WARS
Director:
Tony Silver
World Premiere:
PBS broadcast (January 1984)
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Vancouver, Chicago
About:
A seminal portrait of the development of hip-hop in late 1970s/early 1980s NYC, focusing on graffiti and breakdancing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, August 7:
NOT GOING QUIETLY
Director:
Nicholas Bruckman
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Oxford, Cleveland, Annapolis, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish
About:
When a young father chances to meet a powerful senator on an airplane, their exchange goes viral, sparking one of the most unlikely political movements in a generation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 6:
BRING YOUR OWN BRIGADE
Director:
Lucy Walker
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
About:
A compelling and comprehensive essay exploring the history and causes of wildfires.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Amazon Prime Video today, Friday, August 6:
VAL
Director:
Ting Poo, Leo Scott
World Premiere:
Cannes 2021
About:
A portrait of Val Kilmer, constructed from more than 40 years of the actor’s self-documentation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 6:
THE VIEWING BOOTH
Director:
Ra’anan Alexandrowicz
World Premiere:
Docaviv 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Berlin, True/False, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Dokufest Kosovo, London Open City, Camden, Cork, Jihlava, Boston Jewish, Ann Arbor
About:
The audience observes a young woman as she views and tries to rationalize films that challenge her worldview.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
How open are we to changing our beliefs? Acclaimed filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz explores this question through a cinematic experiment. He asks Maia, a Jewish-American student and ardent supporter of Israel, to view footage of life in the occupied West Bank, some from official Israeli government sources and others from the progressive human rights organization B’Tselem. As Maia attempts to reconcile these images with her worldview—and, months later, to parse these reactions—what emerges is a fascinating and timely study of cognitive dissonance and the strength of entrenched belief systems.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to Ovid.tv this week:
PUTIN’S WITNESSES
Director:
Vitaly Mansky
World Premiere:
Karlovy Vary 2018
Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Camden, BFI London, Vancouver, Zurich, Gent, Leeds, Stockholm, Vilnius, Porto/Post/Doc, Docs Against Gravity, Seattle
About:
An examination of the early life of Vladimir Putin and the political machine that brought him to power.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres and virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, August 6:
WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED
Director:
Mariam Ghani
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sheffield, San Francisco, Kerala, Nashville, Rhode Island, Heartland, Hot Springs Doc, Philadelphia Asian American, St Louis, WatchDocs, San Diego Asian American, Cinema Verite, Goteborg, DocPoint Talinn, Ann Arbor
About:
A meditation on incomplete films made in Afghanistan during periods of instability between 1978-1992.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In this artfully constructed project, a set of unfinished films commissioned by the state during communist-era Afghanistan revisits a nation that only existed in celluloid. Recovered reels, accompanied by the reflections of filmmakers, actors, and critics, reveal genre films whose stories of love, war, and history offer great insight into the heartbeat of a film industry that tried to persevere from one coup to another, and under the ever-watchful eye of government censors.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to Ovid.tv this week:
SUNRISE/SUNSET: DALAI LAMA XIV
Director:
Vitaly Mansky
World Premiere:
Moscow 2008
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Warsaw, Festival Dei Popoli
About:
An intimate day in the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
