Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 6:
STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET
Director:
Marilyn Agrelo
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, San Francisco
About:
A look back at the origins of the pioneering children’s television powerhouse.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Festival:
The 74th Cannes Film Festival
Dates:
July 6-17
About:
After postponing and then cancelling its 2020 edition, the most influential cinema event in the world returns with a robust slate of nearly 100 new features, counting two dozen docs among that number – although none in either Competition or Un Certain Regard. Its parallel sidebars, meanwhile, offer just three nonfiction works among their combined 37 slots.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, July 5:
THE NEUTRAL GROUND
Director:
CJ Hunt
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs
About:
Comedian and satirist CJ Hunt asks difficult questions about this country’s Confederate monuments, hoping to discover some clarity by diving into history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Expanding to theatres nationwide and coming to Hulu today, Friday, July 2:
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
Director:
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, True/False, AFI Docs, Provincetown, DocLands, Minneapolis/St Paul, San Francisco Doc
About:
A joyous and thoughtful revisitation of a long overlooked part of Black music history.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Showtime this Sunday, July 4:
THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY
Director:
Andre Gaines
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs
About:
A revealing portrait of comedian/activist Dick Gregory, focusing on his many personal reinventions throughout the decades, from celebrity to civil rights hero and beyond, and how he has inspired others.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Film Forum tomorrow, Friday, July 2:
BEING A HUMAN PERSON
Director:
Fred Scott
World Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2020
Select Festivals:
Helsinki
About:
Behind the scenes of Roy Andersson’s ABOUT ENDLESSNESS, meant to be the idiosyncratic Swedish auteur’s final film.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres and VOD tomorrow, Friday, July 2:
THE PHANTOM
Director:
Patrick Forbes
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
About:
A searching examination of a Texas murder to determine whether or not an innocent man was put to death, exploring the prejudice and discrimination that persists today in America’s Hispanic community.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Topic today, Thursday, July 1:
PHILLY DA
Director:
Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Berlin, RiverRun, Philadelphia Jewish
About:
An outspoken district attorney attempts to reform a broken criminal justice system in this docuseries.
I profiled the series before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Discovery+ tomorrow, Thursday, July 1:
THE SURGE AT MOUNT SINAI
Director:
Jonny Kapps
World Premiere:
Discovery+ (July 2021)
About:
Three healthcare workers, two patients, and experts from across the hospital are followed as one of the world’s largest healthcare systems in the United States faces an unprecedented global pandemic.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Newly re-released on DVD this week:
BLOODSISTERS: LEATHER, DYKES & SADOMASOCHISM
Director:
Michelle Handelman
World Premiere:
Frameline 1995
Select Festivals:
Outfest, NewFest, BFI Flare
About:
An immersive look at the San Francisco leather dyke scene of the 1990s, shattering assumptions about gender and lesbian sexuality, while broadening the discussion about personal expressions of eroticism and their political implications.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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