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: FINAL ACCOUNT

Coming to theatres today, Friday, May 21:
FINAL ACCOUNT

Director:
Luke Holland

World Premiere:
Venice 2020

Select Festivals:
IDFA

About:
Interviews with the last living generation of Germans to have participated in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich – not the infamously chilling names in history books, but the everyday citizens who carried out the plans made by the architects of mass-scale genocide.

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On VOD: 1971: THE YEAR THAT MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING

Coming to Apple TV+ today, Friday, May 21:
1971: THE YEAR THAT MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING

Director:
Asif Kapadia

World Premiere:
Apple TV+ release (May 2021)

About:
A docuseries exploring how the popular musicians and soundtracks of 1971 shaped culture and politics.

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On VOD: BLOCKADE

Coming to MUBI tomorrow, Friday, May 21:
BLOCKADE

Director:
Sergei Loznitsa

World Premiere:
Rotterdam 2006

Select Festivals:
Krakow, Reykjavik, Sydney, Mar del Plata, Thessaloniki Doc

About:
Rarely seen silent images found in Soviet film archives retell the story of the 900-day siege of Leningrad during WWII.

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In Virtual Release: THE PENNY BLACK

Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, May 21:
THE PENNY BLACK

Director:
Joe Saunders

World Premiere:
Slamdance 2020

Select Festivals:
St Louis, Newport Beach

About:
A man searches for his shady neighbor, who entrusted him with a valuable stamp collection before mysteriously vanishing.

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In Virtual Release: TWO GODS

Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, May 21:
TWO GODS

Director:
Zeshawn Ali

World Premiere:
Full Frame 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, BlackStar, Montclair, Hot Docs, Camden

About:
A Black Muslim casket maker mentors two boys.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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In Virtual Release: THE NEW DEAL FOR ARTISTS

Coming to virtual cinemas in a newly remastered version this Friday, May 21:
THE NEW DEAL FOR ARTISTS

Director:
Wieland Schulz-Keil

World Premiere:
West German TV broadcast (September 1976)

About:
A look back at the Works Progress Administration, FDR’s ambitious government-supported public arts program under the New Deal.

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On VOD: THE EVENT

Coming to MUBI this Friday, May 21:
THE EVENT

Director:
Sergei Loznitsa

World Premiere:
Venice 2015

Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, Cinema du Reel, San Francisco, Traverse City, Docs Against Gravity, Transilvania, Jerusalem, New Zealand, Melbourne, Ann Arbor

About:
A critical re-examination of August 1991: the end of Soviet rule and the supposed birth of Russian democracy.

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On VOD: THE LAST DAYS

Coming to Netflix in a remastered re-release today, Wednesday, May 19:
THE LAST DAYS

Director:
James Moll

World Premiere:
theatrical release (October 1998)

Notable Recognition:
The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1999.

About:
Five Hungarian Jews travel from their homes in the US back to Europe to recount how they survived Auschwitz during the final days of WWII.

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On VOD: INFLUENCE

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, May 18:
INFLUENCE

Director:
Diana Neille, Richard Poplak

World Premiere:
Sundance 2020

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Double Exposure, Sheffield, DOXA, Durban, DMZ Docs, Dokufest, Encounters, Cleveland

About:
A deep dive into the rise and fall of disgraced PR/reputation management firm Bell Pottinger.

My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.

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

On VOD: SEADRIFT

Coming to OVID.tv today, Tuesday, May 18:
SEADRIFT

Director:
Tim Tsai

World Premiere:
Slamdance 2019

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, CAAMFest, Dallas, Hot Springs Doc, Indie Grits

About:
An investigation into the hostility experienced by Vietnamese refugees along the US Gulf Coast.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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