Author Archives: basiltsiokos

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About basiltsiokos

Basil Tsiokos is a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on nonfiction features. He was most recently with DOC NYC for nearly a decade, where he served as Director of Programming since 2014, and with the Nantucket Film Festival as its Film Program Director. Prior to those positions, Basil was the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of NewFest. He has been affiliated with Sundance since 2005 as a Programming Associate. Basil serves on the feature nominating committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. He has written about documentaries daily since 2010 on what (not) to doc. Basil holds a Masters degree from New York University and two undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.

On DVD: MCCARTHY

New to DVD this week:
MCCARTHY

Director:
Sharon Grimberg

World Premiere:
American Experience (January 2020)

About:
A comprehensive account of the rise and fall of notorious Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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On VOD: RAW HERRING

New to OVID.tv last week:
RAW HERRING

Directors:
Leonard Retel Helmrich and Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2013

Select Festivals:
Hamburg, Nederlands

About:
A look at a peculiarly Dutch fishing tradition.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

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On DVD: WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE?

New to DVD this week:
WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE?

Director:
Roberto Minervini

World Premiere:
Venice 2018

Select Festivals:
Toronto, New York, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Busan, London, Rotterdam, Göteborg, Mar del Plata, Valdivia, Vancouver, Vilnius, DocPoint, Docs Against Gravity, Munich

About:
An exploration of race in the American South.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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Big Sky 2020 Overview

Festival:
The 17th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Dates:
February 14-23

About:
Montana’s largest film event presents approximately 45 new and recent documentary features, as well as retrospective work, shorts, and panels. Continue reading

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On VOD: THE PEARL BUTTON

pearlNew to OVID.tv last week: THE PEARL BUTTON

Director:
Patricio Guzmán

World Premiere:
Berlin 2015

Select Festivals:
Toronto, BAFICI, Biografilm, Sydney, Jerusalem, Melbourne, San Sebastian, Bergen, Vancouver, London, Yamagata

About:
A personal excavation of Chile’s dark legacy.

I previously wrote about the film here.

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On VOD: BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS

New to OVID.tv last week:
BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS

Director:
Inka Achté

World Premiere:
Sheffield 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Bergen, Sao Paulo, Nordisk Panorama, Helsinki

About:
Indian men and boys seek to break the cycle of gendered violence.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In the aftermath of the infamous Delhi gang rape, one man works to change the way Indian boys view females. Harish and his nonprofit are devoted to educating impoverished male youth like Ved to respect women and girls. Despite the progress the activist makes in combating toxic masculinity, Harish struggles to find funding because his work is focused on males. Provoking and thoughtful, Inka Achté’s film is a tender tale of activism in the midst of a furious global discussion on gendered violence.

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Neighboring Scenes 2020: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 5th Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema

Dates:
February 14-18

About:
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical, this annual showcase of contemporary Latin America Cinema is split evenly between fiction and nonfiction work. Continue reading

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On VOD: DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT

New to VOD this week:
DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT

Director:
Ben Mullinkosson

World Premiere:
IDFA 2018

Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Göteborg, DocPoint Helsinki, Docs Against Gravity, Maryland, DocPoint Tallinn

About:
An affectionate portrait of a pair of bickering teenage brothers.

The duo at the center of Ben Mullinkosson’s unassuming but often very entertaining film are his cousins, Peter and Matthew, who he follows over the course of a summer vacation. Their ginger hair may be all the brothers have in common; Peter, on the autism spectrum, is outgoing, loud, and immature, while Matthew is quieter, awkward, and has an irrational fear of dogs. Obsessed with the reality competition show SURVIVOR, Peter generates frequent humor here as he “votes off” family members from his presence when they irritate him, something Matthew barely tolerates, generating universally familiar moments of sibling antagonism. Mullinkosson’s camera – often acknowledged by the boys – captures these and other mundane moments over the course of the slight, barely feature-length running time, and while the results may not be earth-shattering, they’re certainly both pleasurable and memorable.

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In Theatres: THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, February 12:
THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS

Director:
Patricio Guzmán

World Premiere:
Cannes 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Biografilm, San Sebastian, Busan, Chicago

About:
The continuation of the master documentarian’s exploration of Chile’s fraught history.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
An exploration of identity, history, and landscape by acclaimed Chilean director Patricio Guzmán. In his latest philosophical act of cinematic self-reflection, the Andean Cordillera mountain range becomes an ark where the most important poetic laws are stored, containing the ruins of the director’s childhood memories and the acts of police brutality and civil resistance that happened under Pinochet’s dictatorship. Spectacular aerial images bring us into the Cordillera and the troubled history it continues to witness.

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On DVD: MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 11:
MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND

Director:
Midge Costin

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Cannes, BFI London, Munich, Deauville, Sitges

About:
An exploration of the largely overlooked history and craft of film sound.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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