Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 4:
CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Director:
Justin Pemberton
World Premiere:
Sydney 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Melbourne, New Zealand, Jerusalem, Hamburg
About:
An adaptation of the unexpected international bestselling economics book.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 4:
RED PENGUINS
Director:
Gabe Polsky
World Premiere:
Toronto 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Miami Jewish
About:
A look back at an American-backed hockey team in post-Soviet Russia.
The film screened at DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Filmmaker Gabe Polsky’s previous film, RED ARMY, was an entertaining history of Soviet hockey players migrating to the United States. Now he examines a reverse trend after the Soviet Union’s collapse, when American hustlers tried bringing capitalism to Moscow by investing in its hockey team. This dark comedy contains strippers, gangsters, and live bears serving beer on ice. It’s a lively history lesson that helps us understand relations between the US and Russia today.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
photo by Lynn Goldsmith
Director:
Alison Ellwood
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Sheffield
About:
A look back at the history of the 1980s pop phenomenon band.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to select theatres, virtual cinema, and VOD today, Friday, July 31:
REBUILDING PARADISE
Director:
Ron Howard
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Tribeca, AFI Docs
About:
A chronicle of the fate of a town caught in the November 2018 Camp Fire.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to select theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 31:
BOYS STATE
Directors:
Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
SXSW, New Directors/New Films, AFI Docs, Nantucket, Full Frame, San Francisco
About:
A group of high school boys create a mock government at an annual civics program hosted by the American Legion in Austin.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres and VOD tomorrow, Friday, July 31:
THE FIGHT
Directors:
Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, CPH:DOX, Miami, Full Frame, Cleveland
About:
A profile of several ACLU attorneys as they challenge the Trump administration’s assault on civil liberties.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
New to DVD this week:
PAT STEIR: ARTIST
Director:
Veronica Gonzalez Peña
World Premiere:
New York Jewish 2019
About:
A portrait of conceptual abstract painter Pat Steir.
Pat Steir emerged as a painter in the 1970s as part of a wave of pioneering feminist artists, but committed to her own abstract and conceptual work rather than using overt political imagery. In this free-flowing portrait, now in her 70s, she reflects on her career, art, process, and, mostly, other notable artists who were part of her circle. While Steir showcases her technique of conceptual abstraction – mostly consisting of her dumping buckets of paint at the tops of canvasses and letting gravity dictate what happens – the artist spends a lot of time discussing collaborators John Cage, Sol LeWitt, and Agnes Martin, sometimes drawing linkages to her own practice, but often just reminiscing and offering her perspective on their work and methods. Supplementing present day footage, filmmaker Veronica Gonzalez Peña intermittently turns to a past interview in which Steir reflects on her decision to become an artist, discusses feminism, and notes how gender informed her work and her placement within the art world. As a whole, the project feels a bit repetitive and gives short shrift to Steir’s own work and artistic process, trading what could have been a more comprehensive approach for a familiar but less enlightening one.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD today and VOD last week:
EL MAR LA MAR
Directors:
Joshua Bonnetta and JP Sniadecki
Premiere:
Berlin 2017
Select Festivals:
New York, London, IDFA, Indielisboa, Dokfest Munich, Docaviv, Docs Against Gravity, AFI Docs, Camden, Chicago, Vienna, AFI Fest, San Francisco, Hong Kong
About:
An immersive exploration of life and death in a desert along the US/Mexico border.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 28:
THE MAN WHO TRIED TO FEED THE WORLD
Director:
Rob Rapley
World Premiere:
American Experience broadcast (April 2020)
About:
An exploration of the work of the father of the Green Revolution, who worked to end global hunger.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 28:
VIRAL: ANTISEMITISM IN FOUR MUTATIONS
Director:
Andrew Goldberg
World Premiere:
Theatrical release (February 2020)
About:
An investigation of the growth of antisemitism around the world.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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