Author Archives: basiltsiokos

New to VOD this week:
AMERICAN DHARMA

Director:
Errol Morris

World Premiere:
Venice 2018

Select Festivals:
Toronto, New York, IDFA, Chicago, Sidewalk, Denver

About:
A conversation with Steve Bannon.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
BAREFOOT: THE MARK BAUMER STORY

Director:
Julie Sokolow

World Premiere:
Heartland 2019

Select Festivals:
Washington DC Environmental, Omaha, Rhode Island, Cinequest, Byron Bay, Tallinn Black Nights

About:
An activist attempts to walk barefoot across America to raise awareness about climate change.

As the US presidential election was heating up in 2016, Mark Baumer, a young artist/poet and climate change activist living in Providence RI decided to try to get attention for the serious threat of climate change through a sacrificial barefoot walk across America. With self-deprecating humor, he made short videos about his experience on a blog, acting crazy, showing off the wear and tear on his feet, interacting with people along the way. Intercut with his videos are developments in the election as he goes along his journey, with Mark responding to Trump’s win and horrible cabinet choices for energy and chief of staff. On the day of the presidential inauguration, the 100th day of Mark’s journey, he was killed by a driver who swerved into the shoulder where he was walking. Sokolow benefits from Mark’s self-documentation – though his videos are annoying and a little of them go a long way. While Mark’s story is tragic, it’s also fairly straightforward and, as a result, it struggles a bit to sustain feature treatment.

New to VOD this week:
NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWIN

Director:
Werner Herzog

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Telluride, Sheffield, Vancouver, Rome, Doclisboa, Rio, Palm Springs

About:
A personal reflection on the master filmmaker’s friendship with the late English travel writer and adventurer.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to The WORLD Channel tonight, Tuesday, October 27:
THE BOOK MAKERS

Director:
James Kennard

World Premiere:
Woods Hole 2020

Select Festivals:
San Francisco DocFest, Port Townsend, Doclands, Mill Valley

About:
A survey of the world of analog bookmaking in a digital age.

While the death knell has supposedly been ringing for book publishing for years now, there are still those who are devoted to the printed book. Filmmaker James Kennard profiles a number of them – too many and for too short a time – as well as authors, illustrators, collectors, and experts in this ode to the love of books and their tactility. Among the interview subjects are a man who spends nearly two years painstakingly setting an archaic letterpress to print a Charles Bukowski cult novel, whose process serves as a running thread through the doc. Others featured include artisans who use creative materials and techniques to re-imagine the very idea of what a book should look like, and how a reader might interact with it, many of which are showcased at San Francisco’s annual CODEX Book Fair, which celebrates the craftsmanship of hand-made books. There’s plenty of eye candy on display for bibliophiles, but the film’s length and format prove frustrating – each profile is too brief and underdeveloped before moving along to the next.

Coming to Showtime tonight, Friday, October 23:
AMERICAN SELFIE: ONE NATION SHOOTS ITSELF

Director:
Alexandra Pelosi 

World Premiere:
Showtime broadcast (October 2020)

About:
A wide-ranging look at a polarized America. 

Despite the title of filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi’s project, her documentary isn’t really about selfies, except for an opening segment engaging with tourists in front of Jeff Koons’ Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Instead, she travels across America for about a year, beginning in September 2019, to capture the nation’s division at Trump rallies, environmental protests, pro-gun gatherings, Black Friday sales, the Super Bowl, and a variety of locations related to the pandemic, from grocery stores being emptied of products and funeral homes inundated with victims of the coronavirus to Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder to Trump’s reprehensible photo op at St John’s Church. If it’s division she wished to capture, she does so in spades, with many scenes punctuated by angry people yelling at one another. It’s a lot to take in and, frankly, goes on a bit too long, but it is an honest snapshot of what we’ve come to, and an urgent reminder of the role those currently in power have played in fanning these flames of discord for their own benefit.