Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 8:
I AM EVIDENCE

Directors:
Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Traverse City, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Hawaii, St Louis, UN Association, Globe Docs, Hamptons, Milwaukee,

About:
An alarming look at institutional failures in prosecuting sexual assault cases.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Produced by Mariska Hargitay (LAW AND ORDER: SVU), this eye-opening documentary investigates the alarming backlog of untested evidence kits that have denied justice to sexual assault survivors. Giving voice to four courageous women whose kits went untested for years, Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir’s film reveals deep-seated problems with the US criminal justice system that have resulted in perpetrators failing to be held accountable for their heinous crimes, and survivors being left in limbo.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6:
BILL FRISELL, A PORTRAIT

Director:
Emma Franz

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Seattle, Nashville, Biografilm, New Zealand, Mill Valley

About:
A portrait of the acclaimed musician.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Bill Frisell is a widely inventive guitarist who crosses musical boundaries. This intimate character portrait “shows a self-deprecating master whose hands seem to float while shaping sonic lines and fields that always surprise with their weird clarity” (Georgia Straight). The eclectic list of musicians in the film includes Bonnie Raitt, Hal Willner, Paul Simon, Nels Cline, John Zorn, and Jack DeJohnette, who treat the audience to generous helpings of music that will be richly satisfying to Frisell’s admirers.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 5:
LIVING ON SOUL

Directors:
Jeff Broadway and Cory Bailey

Premiere:
Los Angeles Film Festival 2017

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Philadelphia

About:
Musicians affiliated with Daptone Records headline the Apollo Theater for a three-night concert series.

Broadway and Bailey’s concert film showcases performance that were part of the December 2014 event, which included the late Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley, as well as several other talented musicians – though unless the audience is well-versed in music, they likely will not recognize most of the other performers involved, which include Antibalas, Naomi Shelton, and the Como Mamas. The filmmakers successfully capture the energy of the performances, which make up the bulk of the film, but falter when it comes to providing enough background or behind the scenes footage to invest the viewer in the lesser known lights on camera vs the two headliners who have already had full-length films made about them – Jones in MISS SHARON JONES! and Bradley in CHARLES BRADLEY: SOUL OF AMERICA.