Coming to ESPN in two parts, this Sunday, May 24 and next Sunday, May 31:
LANCE
Director:
Marina Zenovich
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
About:
The rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Author Archives: basiltsiokos
On TV: LANCE
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On TV/VOD: AKA JANE ROE
Coming to FX tonight, Friday, May 22 and to VOD via Hulu tomorrow, Saturday, May 23:
AKA JANE ROE
Director:
Nick Sweeney
World Premiere:
FX broadcast (May 2020)
About:
Right before her death, Norma McCorvey – better known as “Jane Roe” – sets the record straight on her true beliefs.
In 1969, 21-year-old Norma McCorvey was denied an abortion in Texas, and was unable to obtain one, legally or illegally, elsewhere. Eventually, she was referred to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, who were looking for a poor pregnant woman who could serve as a pseudonymous plaintiff for the case that would become Roe v Wade. Following the landmark US Supreme Court case, McCorvey revealed herself to be “Jane Roe.” Decades later, following the publication of her autobiography, she made headlines by becoming a staunch anti-abortionist and acolyte of Operation Rescue after her conversion to Christianity, also renouncing her homosexuality in the process. Director Nick Sweeney speaks with McCorvey in a nursing home in the last months before her 2017 death, getting her perspective on her connection to the forever contentious issue and her controversial reversal. She reveals a difficult life, one of abuse and disenfranchisement, and a recurring feeling of being used – first by Coffee and Weddington, who used her as a symbol but did not involve her in the case in any practical manner, and then, she confesses, by Operation Rescue, who had systematically targeted her to flip and use to undermine the pro-choice movement. McCorvey makes a “deathbed confession” that it was all an act, done for profit and publicity – a charge verified by reformed evangelical pastor Robert Schenck, who used to work with her. There’s power in McCorvey, held up as an anonymous symbol on both sides of the reproductive rights debate, speaking her more complicated truth and claiming her own agency, though the viewer may want a greater sense of acknowledgement from her of the damage done by her cynical about face.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
In Virtual Release: KATE NASH: UNDERESTIMATE THE GIRL
Coming to virtual theatrical via Alamo Drafthouse tomorrow, Friday, May 22:
KATE NASH: UNDERESTIMATE THE GIRL
Director:
Amy Goldstein
World Premiere:
Los Angeles 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, DOK.Fest Munich, Sheffield, Cleveland, St Louis, Hot Springs Doc, ZagrebDox, Krakow, Doc Edge, Minneapolis-St Paul, Salem, Bentonville
About:
A portrait of the musician and actress.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Director Amy Goldstein crafts an intimate and inspiring portrait of British darling and powerhouse musician Kate Nash, whose meteoric rise to fame is quickly followed by a soul-crushing release from her major record label and devastating financial developments. Determined to make music on her own terms, Nash self-funds her third album, pursues acting opportunities, and produces her own world tour. Unfiltered and unfettered, Nash’s resilience will make you laugh, cry, and sing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Virtual Release: DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY
Coming to virtual theatrical tomorrow, Friday, May 22:
DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY
Director:
Elizabeth Carroll
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Hawaii, Vermont, Tallinn Black Nights, Sedona
About:
A portrait of the nonagenarian British author, an expert in regional Mexican cuisine.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Diana Kennedy fell in love with Mexican food over 60 years ago, and has made it her mission to document and celebrate the regional varieties of Mexico’s cuisine ever since, becoming the world’s leading authority. Now in her 90s, the celebrated British-born chef and cookbook author is still as feisty and no-nonsense as ever, leading teaching workshops, advocating for environmental sustainability, and planning to turn her home into a foundation for culinary education in Mexico.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On VOD: GRIT
New to VOD this week:
GRIT
Directors:
Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Full Frame, Hamptons, Big Sky Doc, Bergen, One World, Mill Valley, GlobeDocs, Hawaii, Movies That Matter, Ashland, Doc Edge, Salem, Atlanta, Environmental fests in Washington DC, Princeton, and Yale
About:
In East Java, Indonesia, a mother and daughter battle a corporation over a man-made catastrophe.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On VOD: ANBESSA
Coming to VOD this Friday, May 22:
ANBESSA
Director:
Mo Scarpelli
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Hot Docs, Thessaloniki Doc, Durban, Mountainfilm, RiverRun, Maryland, Woods Hole, Cleveland, Cucalorus, Washington DC Enviro, San Francisco DocFest
About:
A young Ethiopian boy turns to his imagination to reckon with the urbanization of his home.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Virtual Release: THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS
Coming to virtual theatrical this Friday, May 22:
THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS
Director:
Peter Medak
World Premiere:
Venice 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Telluride, Raindance, Oldenburg, Gent, Sao Paulo
About:
A revisitation of the director’s experience making an ill-fated 1970s Peter Sellers comedy.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In 1973, director-on-the-rise Peter Medak nabbed notoriously difficult comic genius and box-office star Peter Sellers for his new pirate comedy, GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN. Outrageously, Sellers immediately began sabotaging the film. While the actual behind-the-scenes shenanigans were often funnier and more bizarre than the film itself, the filmmaking was an excruciating experience that threatened the sanity and career of its director. Medak revisits the ill-fated production to exorcise his demons in this tragicomic documentary.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Virtual Release & On VOD: THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
Coming to virtual theatrical and VOD this Friday, May 22:
THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
Director:
Benjamin Ree
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Full Frame, One World, San Francisco
About:
A dual portrait of an artist and the thief who stole her art but becomes her friend.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On DVD: THE VENERABLE W
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, May 19:
THE VENERABLE W
Director:
Barbet Schroeder
Premiere:
Cannes 2017
Select Festivals:
Locarno, Telluride, New York, London, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Docslisboa, Jihlava, Docs Against Gravity, Jerusalem, Melbourne, New Zealand, Helsinki, Moscow, Vancouver, Rio, Mill Valley, Mar del Plata, Singapore
About:
A portrait of a Buddhist monk who has fomented Islamophobia in Burma.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On DVD: THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, May 19:
THE GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY
Directors:
Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson
World Premiere:
PBS broadcast (April 2020)
About:
A far-ranging history of the discovery and research into the human genome.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 