Coming to Independent Lens tonight, Monday, April 27:
JIM ALLISON: BREAKTHROUGH
Director:
Bill Haney
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Seattle, IFF Boston, Woods Hole, Full Frame, DocLands, , Minneapolis-St Paul, Sedona
About:
A Texan scientist doggedly pursues immunotherapy as a potential way to cure some cancers.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to virtual theatrical today, Friday, April 24:
PAHOKEE
Directors:
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, SXSW, San Francisco, DokuFest, Sarasota, Denver, Maryland, Hamptons, Visions du Reel, Miami, Encounters, Sidewalk, Montclair, Los Angeles Latino, Bentonville, IFF Boston, Ashland
About:
Four teenagers are followed through their senior year of high school in the Florida Everglades.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to Netflix this week:
CIRCUS OF BOOKS
Director:
Rachel Mason
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Hamptons, Camden, London, Frameline, Outfest, Sidewalk, Atlanta Jewish, GlobeDocs
About:
The filmmaker reveals how her unassuming Jewish parents came to run a legendary gay adult bookstore.
Growing up, filmmaker Rachel Mason and her two brothers knew that her parents, Karen and Barry, ran a bookstore in West Hollywood, but, not unlike other kids, they had no idea of the specifics of the family business – beginning in 1982, the Masons owned Circus of Books, an adult bookstore primarily frequented by gay men. The outgoing Karen, devoutly religious, kept quiet about her business, fearing the response of her Jewish community, while the quieter Barry would later find out the serious risks of peddling “smut” in the Reagan/Bush era when he was threatened with federal obscenity charges. As her parents face the long-in-coming reality that the store must close, a victim of the ubiquity of free online porn, and gay cruising apps, Rachel mines family history to explore how her parents became the unlikely largest distributor of gay porn in the US, while also addressing the contradictions that came with such a profession. Notably, despite catering to a gay clientele and employing many gay men, Karen had serious issues with homosexuality, influenced by her religion. While her views have evolved – she’s become a longtime, ardent PFLAG member – this came only after the very difficult coming out experience of one of her sons, related at length here. As with any portrait made about family members, the personal can dominate the proceedings, and that’s occasionally the case in Rachel’s film, which might have found a bit more balance through more stories about the importance and impact of the store for the community, but the filmmaker’s focus is understandable. As a whole, she has constructed an affectionate and often very funny piece of LGBTQ history that otherwise might have been lost with the shuttering of Circus of Books.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
MILFORD GRAVES FULL MANTIS
Director:
Jake Meginsky
Co-Director:
Neil Young
Premiere:
Rotterdam 2018
Select Festivals:
SXSW, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Art of the Real, Sarasota, Indielisboa, Maryland
About:
An eclectic portrait of the avant-garde jazz percussionist.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to virtual theatrical today, Wednesday, April 22, in commemoration of Earth Day:
EATING UP EASTER
Director:
Sergio Mata’u Rapu
World Premiere:
Hawai’i 2018
Select Festivals:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific, NY Asian American, CAAMFest, Martha’s Vineyard, Global Peace, Margaret Mead, St Louis, Wild & Scenic, Minneapolis-St Paul, Washington DC Environmental,
About:
A personal examination of the deleterious impact of globalization and tourism on Easter Island.
To the outside world, Rapa Nui is known as Easter Island, famed for its stone statues, which have attracted curiosity and inspired outlandish theories of extraterrestrial or supernatural origins. In addition, they have drawn an increasing stream of visitors, making tourism a leading economic driver for the island, officially part of Chile. Unfortunately, as revealed in native Rapanui filmmaker Sergio Mata’u Rapu’s project, these tourists have brought with them an unsustainable amount of waste, taxing the resources of Rapa Nui and degrading its environment. Composed as a story to his infant son, Rapu’s film profiles several islanders who respond to the issues of development and sustainability, including a woman who focuses on recycling efforts, a couple who are attempting to preserve local cultural through the construction of a music school, and the filmmaker’s own father, a real estate developer. Unfortunately, Rapu struggles to balance these disparate threads, losing the environmental focus at times, and sacrifices a sense of urgency with an approach that, while thoughtful, feels too personal to be particularly impactful to the viewer.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Discovery in commemoration of Earth Day, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22:
THE STORY OF PLASTIC
Director:
Deia Schlosberg
World Premiere:
Mill Valley 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Wild & Scenic, Annapolis, Mountainfilm
About:
An in-depth look at America’s perpetually increasing plastic pollution problem.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Plastic, a seemingly indispensable product, has wrought all sorts of innovations, but at what cost? The plastic industry’s success depends on consumers discarding the product and purchasing new items, creating an endless supply of litter that lingers forever. Filmmaker Deia Schlosberg’s incredibly detailed investigation into the plastic-production pipeline will shock, horrify, and forever change your perception on recycling. Timely and critical, this film is a must-see for anyone who uses this infamous product.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, April 21:
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.
In the midst of the Cold War, following China’s Communist Revolution, the US government saw a path to keep other countries from embracing Communism: ensuring political stability and economic prosperity by increasing the global food supply to combat the destabilizing impact of famine. They turned to a modest agronomist, Norman Borlaug, who had previously worked on a project in Mexico to develop a new hybrid wheat that was highly productive and disease-resistant. Confronted by a devastating famine in India, whose rapidly growing population and food shortages seemed like a disturbing harbinger for the rest of the world, efforts were taken to address the nation’s approach to agriculture. Borlaug, working with Indian agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, faced resistance to their plan to implement a new modernized high-yield system that depended on costly resources, but won out in the end. While their efforts resulted in a bountiful harvest that combatted the famine – as well as the Nobel Peace Prize for Borlaug – their Green Revolution of global industrial agriculture left in its wake serious ecological, social, and economic consequences as well as the rapid urbanization of the world. Hewing to the standard American Experience informational format, director Rob Rapley explores Borlaug’s work and its impact, both positive and negative, and notably underscores that the agronomist clearly understood his efforts merely bought the world more time, and that we needed to address larger questions around population and the lack of resources.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, April 20:
THE HOTTEST AUGUST
Director:
Brett Story
World Premiere:
True/False 2019
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, BAMcinemaFest, Sheffield, DOXA, Montclair, DokuFest, Open City Doc, Sarasota, Maryland
About:
An exploration of climate change and late-stage capitalism.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Now available on VOD:
THE LEGEND OF SWEE’ PEA
Director:
Benjamin May
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015
Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, Atlanta, deadCENTER, Flyway, Maryland, Minneapolis-St Paul, Portland, Milwaukee
About:
The rise and fall of a would-be basketball superstar.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Lloyd Swee’ Pea Daniels was a legend on the highly competitive playground basketball courts of NYC, and one of the top college basketball recruits of the late 1980s. Before he was able to play a single game at UNLV, a drug bust ended his college career. But this was far from the end of his story. Benjamin May recounts the unexpected twists and turns in the life and career of the flawed but ever-charismatic sports prodigy in this engaging portrait.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 51st Cinéma du Réel
Dates:
April 17-May 2 (online)
About:
This well-respected Swiss nonfiction event remarkably has been able to respond quickly to the COVID-19 crisis, transitioning to a robust online edition, most of which is available worldwide for free. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 