Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 8:
16 BARS
Director:
Samuel Bathrick
Premiere:
DocLands 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Miami, Big Sky Doc, Salem, Virginia, Milwaukee
About:
An acclaimed musician leads a transformative program in a Virginia jail.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
MAN MADE
Director:
T Cooper
World Premiere:
Atlanta 2018
Select Festivals:
Guadalajara, New Orleans, Thessaloniki Doc, Cleveland, Bentonville, Southern Circuit, Heartland, Sidewalk, Frameline, Outfest, Inside Out, NewFest, LGBT fests in Hamburg, Seattle, Melbourne, Memphis, Rochester, Miami, Portland, Halifax, Kansas City, Austin, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Taiwan
About:
Profiles of several transgender men who compete in a bodybuilding contest.
Director T Cooper’s thoughtful but somewhat scattered project ostensibly focuses on trans bodybuilders as they prepare for Trans FitCon, the only trans bodybuilding competition in the world. Aside from a small handful of scenes of working out, and Trans FitCon footage in the final stretch of the film, the project actually more or less ignores the bodybuilding to instead chronicle other, far more familiar issues related to transitioning and the trans experience. Cooper’s four subjects are likeable and interesting, but there could have been more time devoted to what bodybuilding does for them, the power of the sport to transform their bodies and to give them confidence, as well as addressing transphobia in the sport and in sports in general, which could further distinguish this project from the countless others that also explore details around transitioning, surgery, pronouns, and family relationships. The return to Trans FitCon towards the end of the film is also complicated by tangential explorations of new characters, while losing sight of the four principles.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
SUPER SIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN!
Director:
Morgan Spurlock
World Premiere:
Toronto 2017
About:
The director takes on fast food once again, opening up his own chicken restaurant.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
FOOD COOP
Director:
Tom Boothe
World Premiere:
Paris theatrical release (October 2016)
Select Festivals:
Planet in Focus, San Francisco Green, Twin Cities
About:
An in-depth look at Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Coop.
Established in 1973, the Coop is a member-run collective that is able to offer a wide range of fresh food at substantially lower than average prices because they keep down costs by having the membership work the store. Planning his own Paris version of the Coop, director Tom Boothe observes the inner workings while also interviewing various members as they fulfill their work obligations, such as composting, clean up, check out, and walking customers to the subway; follows the activities of some of the small paid administrative staff; and checks in on various committees, who handle disciplinary matters, food selection, events, etc. While the project feels a bit overlong and shapeless, it works as an institutional portrait and successfully captures how this unique entity has managed to be a sustainable, successful business in the long-term.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD/VOD this week:
LIFE WITHOUT BASKETBALL
Directors:
Tim O’Donnell and Jon Mercer
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Athena, Atlanta, IFF Boston, Toronto Human Rights Watch
About:
A Muslim athlete fights back against a ban on the hijab.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
After a controversial basketball ruling about head coverings makes it impossible for Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir to maintain her religious convictions while playing professionally, she begins training the next generation of Muslim girls at an Islamic school’s athletics program. As she reckons with the possibility of life without basketball, Bilqis fights to change the rules of the International Basketball Federation so she might become the first Division I basketball player to play wearing the hijab.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
TO END A WAR
Director:
Marc Silver
Premiere:
Colombia (September 2017)
Select Festivals:
Colombian Film Festival NY
About:
The Colombian government tries to broker peace with guerrilla forces to end a 50+ year conflict.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Wednesday, November 6 and to theatres this Friday, November 8:
THE APOLLO
Director:
Roger Ross Williams
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, Seattle, Chicago, Provincetown, Montclair
About:
On the history and legacy of the legendary Harlem theatre.
I wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
From the director of the Oscar®-nominated LIFE, ANIMATED comes this rich history of Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater. For 85 years, this cultural landmark has played host to legendary African-American artists and to newcomers willing to take the stage on the venue’s famed Amateur Night. Framed around the inaugural staging of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ acclaimed BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, this portrait demonstrates the pivotal role that the arts play in the African-American experience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Fuse tomorrow, Tuesday, November 5:
THE CANDIDATES
Directors:
Alexandra Stergiou and Lexi Henigman
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019
Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, IFF Boston
About:
The 2016 presidential election, as seen by NYC high school story students.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Since 1996, the wonderfully diverse students of a Queens public high school have staged an elaborate mock presidential election for an entire semester, simulating the American electoral process against the backdrop of the real one. In 2016, Ukrainian-American Daniel hams it up as a cocky Donald Trump, while Pakistani-American Misbah, an observant Muslim, portrays Hillary Clinton, with also-rans like earthy Jill Stein thrown in for good measure. As the students reenact the rigors of the divisive political campaign, hard truths about politics are revealed, yet hope lives on.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Monday, November 4:
LEONARD SOLOWAY’S BROADWAY
Director:
Jeff Wolk
World Premiere:
Cleveland 2019
Select Festivals:
NewFest, LGBT fests in Chicago, Dayton, Miami
About:
On the long career of the nonagenarian Broadway producer.
Leonard Soloway is not a household name, but, behind the scenes, he’s been responsible for enriching the American stage in a career spanning more than seven decades. Director Jeff Wolk, who appears in the film as a producer and investor in Soloway’s 2016 venture, TAPPIN’ THRU LIFE, follows Soloway over several years with this project starring song-and-dance man Maurice Hines, while also providing copious biographical background. Soloway is a lively, often funny presence, happily taking a stroll down memory lane, recounting how he came to Broadway and sharing anecdote after anecdote about various productions and talent, including some intriguing bits about his openness around homosexuality at a time when it was still taboo. Interspersed with this history, Wolk chronicles the increasingly impossible task of both mounting a production in the present day and keeping it going. The film falters in its very dry, old-fashioned narration and excessive score, and could have trimmed some of the countless anecdotes from past collaborators and friends, which lend the film a disjointed feel.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, November 4:
DECADE OF FIRE
Directors:
Vivian Vazquez and Gretchen Hildebran
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Cleveland, Chicago Latino, Harlem, Maryland
About:
A Bronx native revisits the truth behind the boroughs rash of arson in the 1970s.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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