New to DVD/VOD this week:
BEAUTIFUL DARLING
Director:
James Rasin
World Premiere:
Berlin 2010
Select Festivals:
New Directors/New Films, Frameline, Provincetown
About:
A portrait of the pioneering and influential Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
CAPTAINS OF ZAATARI
Ali El Arabi follows the soccer dreams of two teenage best friends living in the titular Syrian refugee camp.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Egypt
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Festival:
The 30th New York Jewish Film Festival
Dates:
January 13-26
About:
Co-presented by Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum, the event goes online this year with eight docs among its offerings of 16 new features.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, January 12:
QUEEN OF HEARTS: AUDREY FLACK
Director:
Deborah Shaffer
Co-Director:
Rachel Reichman
World Premiere:
Film Columbia 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Docaviv, Full Frame, Ashland, Indie Grits, Hamptons Docfest, Sonoma
About:
A portrait of the pioneering artist.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
USERS
Natalia Almada offers a thought-provoking essay about the unexpected consequences of our dependence on technology.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 12:
A THOUSAND CUTS
Director:
Ramona Diaz
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, SXSW, AFI Docs, Full Frame, San Francisco, Cleveland
About:
A chilling look at the assault on fundamental democratic freedoms in the Philippines.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
TRY HARDER!
Debbie Lum follows the graduating class of a competitive San Francisco High School through its college application process.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to Netflix today, Monday, January 11:
CRACK: COCAINE, CORRUPTION & CONSPIRACY
Director:
Stanley Nelson
World Premiere:
Netflix (January 2021)
About:
A provocative investigation of the crack epidemic of the 1980s-’90s.
America’s ill-conceived and ineffective “war on drugs” ramped up under Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush in the 1980s, largely as a response to crack. Draconian laws punished dealer and user alike, resulting in mass incarceration, disproportionately affecting people of color and laying siege to their communities and families, with the parallel militarization of the police. While crack use was hardly limited to Black people, with some estimating that as many as two-thirds of users were actually white, law enforcement and the media largely ignored the latter, instead demonizing people of color. Acclaimed documentarian Stanley Nelson revisits the origins of the crack epidemic and explores its legacy, offering astute historical and cultural context for how and why crack emerged and became central to mainstream, racist narratives of Black criminality and the expansion of the prison industrial system.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Monday, January 11:
THE CODEBREAKER
Director:
Chana Gazit
World Premiere:
American Experience (January 2021)
About:
The recently declassified story of an unheralded female cryptanalyst who was instrumental in America’s war effort against Nazi Germany.
Elizebeth Smith Friedman would tell people that during WWII, she held an unassuming role in the US Navy. The truth would not come out until decades after her death, when classified documents would reveal the pivotal role she played as a codebreaker, responsible for foiling Nazi plans to torpedo essential supply ships and for exposing an extensive espionage ring in Latin America. As Chana Gazit’s biography reveals, Friedman was not always out of the public eye, however – she gained a fair amount of celebrity in the 1930s when she was tasked by the US Coast Guard to lead a codebreaking unit to decrypt messages used by organized crime leaders transporting alcohol during Prohibition, and later served as chief witness during the trials that followed against the gangsters. But, during WWII, in the men’s world of the military, despite her expertise in cryptanalysis, Friedman was not permitted to lead her own unit, so she was overshadowed by less experienced men, and her contributions kept strictly classified. Though she would lay the foundation for the NSA, there was no place for her postwar. While Gazit’s film follows the dry American Experience house style, it nevertheless succeeds in giving Friedman her long deserved recognition.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson revisits a long overlooked piece of Black music history.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition (Day One film)
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 