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.

In Theatres: THE FARTHEST

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 11:
THE FARTHEST

Director:
Emer Reynolds

Premiere:
Dublin 2017

Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Edinburgh, Seattle, AFI Docs, Sydney, New Zealand, Telluride Mountainfilm

About:
A comprehensive history of the Voyager mission, from inception to execution to the present day.

Reynolds assembles an impressive collection of archival material, new animation, and interviews with scores of NASA scientists, engineers, and analysts to recount the story of the monumental Voyager project. Relating its history while contextualizing the mission with changes to presidential administrations and the impact of the Challenger disaster on the US space programs, the film offers a privileged look at the planning, preparation, launch, troubleshooting, and media attention afforded the probe and its pioneering images of the solar system. Reynolds also devotes significant attention to the fascinating Golden Record carried within both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 – an eclectic recording of sounds and images meant to provide a sense of mankind’s existence to whatever extraterrestrial intelligence might happen upon the vehicles, and which became the first manmade object to leave the solar system and travel into interstellar space in 2012. While providing an engaging look at a major achievement of NASA’s past, Reynolds’ film also might just re-awaken viewers’ curiosity about the future of space exploration.

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On VOD: I DO?

New to VOD via iTunes this week:
I DO?

Director:
Joe Brandmeier

Premiere:
Montreal World 2016

Select Festivals:
Green Bay, Twin Cities, Singapore

About:
Interviews about marriage, ranging from the newly engaged, couples married seven decades, and divorcees.

Brandmeier, serving as a chatty narrator and interviewer, embarks on a film about marriage after the divorce of his own parents following 30 years together. With the exception of one couple personally tied to the filmmaker, other interview subjects appear chosen at random, and are asked to offer insight into the joys and struggles of their relationship, addressing their pre-wedded expectations and the realities of married life in a series of loosely-themed titled chapters. As with most survey projects of its ilk, there are few surprises or revelations here – marriage is hard work is the consensus – and leaving aside some of the clunkier aspects – chiefly the unnecessary on-camera presence of the filmmaker – this straightforward doc at least manages to keep things on the lighter side.

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In Theatres: WHOSE STREETS?


Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 11:
WHOSE STREETS?

Director:
Sabaah Folayan

Co-Director:
Damon Davis

Premiere:
Sundance 2017

Select Festivals:
True/False, San Francisco, Encounters, Sheffield, BAMcinemaFest, Seattle, Montclair, Maryland, Full Frame, RiverRun, Outfest, Provincetown, Atlanta

About:
An on-the-ground immersion into the Ferguson uprising.

My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.

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Sarajevo 2017: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival

Dates:
August 11-18

About:
More than 100 features – among them over 40 docs – screen at the celebrated festival in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continue reading

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On DVD: HELL ON EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS

New to DVD this week:
HELL ON EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS

Directors:
Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Greenwich, Provincetown

About:
A comprehensive exploration of the conflict in Syria and the origins of the Islamic State.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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On DVD: HILLEMAN: A PERILOUS QUEST TO SAVE THE WORLD’S CHILDREN

New to DVD this week:
HILLEMAN: A PERILOUS QUEST TO SAVE THE WORLD’S CHILDREN

Director:
Donald Rayne Mitchell

Premiere:
Scinema 2016

Select Festivals:
American Documentary, New Hope

About:
A profile of Dr Maurice Hilleman, credited with developing most childhood vaccines.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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On DVD: SEA GYPSIES: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 8:
SEA GYPSIES: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD

Director:
Nico Edwards

Premiere:
Telluride Mountainfilm 2016

Select Festivals:
Napa Valley, Banff Mountain, Lone Star, Wild and Scenic, Washington DC Environmental, Oxford, Newport Beach, BendFilm

About:
A ragtag group of adventurers set sail from Australia to Patagonia.

Edwards joins the international crew of the Infinity, a refurbished 1977 yacht captained by Clemens, a German who has traveled the open seas for years with his young family. The latter sit out this particular voyage, which is intended to last for a couple of months through the rough, icy waters of the Ross Sea, conducted without permission or insurance and just for the sheer fun of it all. Although Edwards uses an excess of narration and includes some fairly extraneous footage at times, he does convey the warmth and camaraderie of the handsome crew as they enjoy their time on the water, while also facing dangerous weather and even assisting the efforts of radical environmentalists, the Sea Shepherd, in frustrating an illegal Japanese whaling expedition.

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In Theatres: MACHINES

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, August 9:
MACHINES

Director:
Rahul Jain

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
Sundance, Thessaloniki Doc, Hot Docs, DocsBarcelona, Docaviv, Beldocs, Documenta Madrid, Docs Against Gravity

About:
On the lives of Indian textile factory workers.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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On DVD: NOTES ON BLINDNESS

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 8:
NOTES ON BLINDNESS

Directors:
Peter Middleton and James Spinney

Premiere:
Sundance 2016

Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Sheffield, Tribeca, Cleveland, Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Jerusalem, San Francisco

About:
An immersive recreation of a man’s experience of losing his sight.

My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.

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Special Screening: MONKEY BUSINESS: THE ADVENTURES OF CURIOUS GEORGE’S CREATORS

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Tuesday, August 8:
MONKEY BUSINESS: THE ADVENTURES OF CURIOUS GEORGE’S CREATORS

Director:
Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Premiere:
Los Angeles 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket

About:
The secret origin of Curious George.

The mischievous monkey Curious George made his first appearance more than 75 years ago and has been entertaining readers young and old ever since. If not for a pair of handmade bicycles, however, the beloved children’s book character might never have made it out of Nazi-occupied Europe. Brought to life with whimsical animation, Yamazaki’s film celebrates the power of storytelling as it recounts how refugee couple Hans and Margret Rey created an enduring classic.

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