Coming to PBS’s American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17:
ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE
Director:
Tracy Heather Strain
World Premiere:
American Experience (January 2023)
About:
An in-depth biography of the influential author, whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender, and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED
Stephen Curry is one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball. Intimate cinematic video, archival footage, and on-camera interviews reveal Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion.
Director/Paroducer:
Peter Nicks
Producers:
Ryan Coogler, Sean Havey, Erick Peyton, Marissa Torres Ericson
Festival Section:
Special Screenings
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens today, Monday, January 16:
THE BIG PAYBACK
Director:
Erika Alexander, Whitney Dow
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022
About:
Evanston IL Alderwoman Simmons leads her constituents through a historic campaign for reparations for the Black community.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
SQUARING THE CIRCLE (THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS)
An inside look at the studio responsible for some of the most iconic and recognizable album covers of all time. From Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon to Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, the studio ruled the ’70s.
Director:
Anton Corbijn
Producer:
Trish D Chetty, Ged Doherty, Colin Firth
Festival Section:
Spotlight
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
LAST THINGS
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact. The geo-biosphere is a place of evolutionary possibility, where humans disappear but life endures.
Director/Producer:
Deborah Stratman
Producer:
Anže Peržin, Gaëlle Boucand
Festival Section:
New Frontier
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to MGM+ this Sunday, January 15:
MURF THE SURF: JEWELS, JESUS AND MAYHEM IN THE USA
Director:
RJ Cutler
World Premiere:
MGM+ (January 2023)
About:
A docuseries on one of the most complicated and notorious American crime figures ever, Jack Roland Murphy, who became America’s very first true crime television superstar in 1964.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
A COMMON SEQUENCE
An interconnected look at tradition, colonialism, property, faith, and science, as seen through labor practices that link an endangered salamander, mass-produced apples, and the evolving fields of genomics and machine learning.
Directors/Producers:
Mary Helena Clark, Mike Gibisser
Producer:
Graciela Guerrero-Reyes
Festival Section:
New Frontier
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Friday, January 13:
LOUDMOUTH
Director:
Josh Alexander
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022
About:
A disruptive spotlight on Reverend Al Sharpton – the pastoral prodigy turned political firebrand turned media establishment figure.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
STILL: A MICHAEL J FOX MOVIE
The improbable tale of a short kid from a Canadian army base who became the darling of 1980s Hollywood — only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?
Director/Producer:
Davis Guggenheim
Producers:
Annetta Marion, Jonathan King, Will Cohen
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS
A galvanizing look at actor, model, and icon Brooke Shields as she transforms from sexualized young girl to a woman discovering her power. Holding a mirror up to a society that objectifies women and girls, her story shows the perils and triumphs of gaining agency in a hostile world.
Director:
Lana Wilson
Producers:
Christine O’Malley, Jack Turner
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 