Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 17:
THE POISON SQUAD
Director:
John Maggio
World Premiere:
American Experience (February 2020)
About:
A government chemist goes on a crusade to eliminate untested chemicals from American foods.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17:
CELEBRATION
Director:
Olivier Meyrou
World Premiere:
Berlin 2007
Select Festivals:
IDFA, True/False, Docs Against Gravity, Seattle, Vilnius
About:
A long-unreleased look at Yves Saint-Laurent at the end of his career.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, March 13:
THE DOG DOC
Director:
Cindy Meehl
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Boulder, Palm Springs, Sedona, St Louis, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, Mill Valley, Berkshire
About:
A portrait of a pioneering alternative holistic veterinarian.
I previously wrote about the film for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Called a miracle-worker by some, wrongly dismissed as a quack by others, Dr Marty Goldstein is a pioneer in integrative veterinary medicine, a holistic approach to pet care that combines conventional medicine and alternative therapies. He and his dedicated team provide a mecca for pets and their owners looking for hope, often with remarkable results. Following the acclaimed BUCK, director Cindy Meehl presents another moving film exploring the deep connection between humans and animals.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Anthology Film Archives beginning tomorrow, Friday, March 13:
HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME
Director:
Thomas Heise
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, New York, Visions du Réel, RIDM, Jeonju, Torino
About:
An essay film exploring German history through three generations of the filmmaker’s family.
At 3 hours and 38 minutes, Thomas Heise’s cinematic essay is unforgiving, austere, and unlikely to find casual viewers – instead it will have its admirers among the German filmmaker’s existing fans and those who intentionally seek out challenging, if not outright experimental, work. Providing no context, the auteur simply launches into disaffected recitations of epistolic exchanges and diary entries of what turns out to be his own family, beginning during World War I and continuing through major events in German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Accompanying his flat voiceover are images that sometimes comment on the subject of the readings, and sometimes simply don’t. The most notable sequence, lengthy at nearly a half an hour, pairs a series of letters between a Jewish and Gentile couple during the Nazi era with a seemingly endless scroll of names of Jews who were confined to ghettos and later, one assumes, concentration camps. While there’s undeniably power in such sections, its impact – and that of the project as a whole – is lessened by Heise’s reservedness, distance, and aesthetic esotericism. While this is clearly a deliberate choice, it is also a frustrating one.
Update: Anthology Film Archives has postponed this theatrical engagement.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Festival:
The 42nd Cinéma du Réel
Dates:
March 13-22
About:
This Paris event presents nearly 50 new and recent documentary features. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Thursday, March 12:
HUMAN NATURE
Director:
Adam Bolt
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Full Frame, AFI Docs, CPH:DOX
About:
An exploration of the potential implications of a major DNA technology.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week:
STUFFED
Director:
Erin Derham
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Seattle, Woods Hole, Vancouver, Nashville, Maui
About:
An exploration of the misunderstood world of taxidermy.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
5B
Directors:
Dan Krauss and Paul Haggis
World Premiere:
SFFILM Doc Stories 2018
Select Festivals:
Cannes
About:
At the dawn of the AIDS crisis, nurses and caregivers defied fear and stigma to establish the world’s first AIDS hospital ward.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT
Director:
Matt Wolf
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Docs, London, New Orleans, Melbourne, Montclair, Maryland, SF DocFest, Sidewalk, Heartland, Antenna
About:
The story of a woman who recorded television news around the clock for thirty years.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 10:
LIFELINE/ CLYFFORD STILL
Director:
Dennis Scholl
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019
About:
An in-depth exploration of the life and work of the American Abstract Expressionist artist.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Clyfford Still’s striking compositions and idiosyncratic personality made him one of the preeminent figures of the American Abstract Expressionist movement. Through interviews and previously unreleased recordings, Still’s artistic philosophy and his relationships with contemporaries Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock are revealed. After his death, the legacy of the enigmatic artist faces further uncertainty, as museums vie to be the permanent home of the Still collection—if they can meet the strict demands of his will.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 