New to DVD and VOD this week:
DR FEELGOOD: DEALER OR HEALER?
Director:
Eve Marson
Premiere:
Los Angeles 2016
Select Festivals:
Austin, Tallgrass
About:
An exploration of the opioid epidemic through the case of a controversial medical practitioner.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
SXSW has just announced their feature film line-up, following a sneak peek announcement of a handful of titles earlier this month. 125 features will screen in total, which will include some future announcements of additional titles. Following is the list of documentary features so far, broken down by section: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1:
MR GAGA
Director:
Tomer Heymann
Premiere:
Jerusalem 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, SXSW, London, New Orleans, Vilnius, Full Frame, DOK Fest Munich, DOXA, Transilvania, Seattle, Tel Aviv, Sheffield, Shanghai, SF Jewish, Miami Jewish, New Zealand, Bergen, Sao Paulo, RIDM
About:
A portrait of acclaimed Israeli dancer/choreographer Ohad Naharin.
An eight year labor of love for Heymann, this dance doc pieces together the four decade career of Naharin, who only began dancing at 22, after his compulsory service in the Israeli army. His early promise drew the attention of Martha Graham, and later Maurice Bejart, but his iconoclastic spirit proved an ill fit for their modern dance companies, leading Naharin to develop his own work, including Gaga, the movement language which lends this film its name – not at all a reference to the pop star Lady Gaga, though the too insular title may very well lead to confusion and disappointment for some audiences. Viewed as a pioneering figure in modern dance, Naharin, who, since 1990, has been the artistic director of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company, reflects on his long career, including a freedom of expression standoff on the occasion of Israel’s 50th anniversary that elevated him to the status of national hero. Heymann does an admirable job in synthesizing the choreographer’s career and showcasing impressive footage of his dances, which will draw dance film fans, while the political undertones of his work may also provide an entry to some audiences, like me, otherwise indisposed to dance docs.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Tuesday, January 31:
THE RACE UNDERGROUND
Director:
Michael Rossi
Premiere:
American Experience (January 2017)
About:
The story of America’s first subway.
On September 1, 1897, the first passengers descended into the Earth, taking a ride on the country’s first subway line, in Boston MA. All told, 250,000 individuals braved the new technology that day, despite a long build-up of fears of gas explosions, superstitions of traveling close to the netherworld, and political obstacles that called into question whether the engineering project would ever be completed. Rossi reveals the origins of the MBTA and its architects, and if he employs the conventional PBS house style, dominated by narration and talking heads, the project nevertheless offers an illuminating look back at the dawn of this vital part of America’s public transport infrastructure. While the title suggests a competition between Boston and other cities, notably New York City, to achieve a subway system, Rossi’s film is almost exclusively concerned with the challenges faced by the former in pulling off their subway and barely makes mention of NYC’s own efforts – the latter did not open until 1904. At the core of Rossi’s film, which is based on urban historian Doug Most’s book by the same name, is Frank Sprague, a young inventor who revolutionized mass transportation with his electric motor-powered trolley cars. A largely unheralded figure in the shadow of the legendary Thomas Edison, who eventually bought his patents and slapped his name on them, Sprague persevered, with the support of real estate mogul Henry Whitney, despite a huge public fight over disturbing the Boston Common.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD on iTunes today, Tuesday, January 31:
MIRIAM: HOME DELIVERY
Director:
Juliet Jordan
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015
Select Festivals:
Ambulante
About:
A portrait of a modern-day midwife.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Juliet Jordan offers an inside look at what some consider to be the world’s second-oldest profession: midwifery. As a homebirth midwife, Miriam performs a service once commonplace, but now increasingly rare as the process of childbirth firmly moved to a hospital setting. The filmmaker immerses viewers in Miriam’s mission, driving along with her across NYC as she assists expectant mothers, from her clients among the Orthodox Jewish community to the dramatic home birth that falls during the Hurricane Sandy blackout.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, February 3:
OKLAHOMA CITY
Director:
Barak Goodman
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
About:
A look back at the events which led to the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to VOD at iTunes today, Monday, January 30:
LOVE CRIMES OF KABUL
Director:
Tanaz Eshaghian
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2011
Select Festivals:
Jerusalem, Human Rights Watch, Noor, Movies That Matter
About:
A inside look at an Afghan prison for moral crimes.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31:
GIMME DANGER
Director:
Jim Jarmusch
Premiere:
Cannes 2016
Select Festivals:
Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Austin, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Sarajevo, Helsinki, Mill Valley, Rio, Adelaide, Woodstock, Leeds
About:
An appreciation for the influential band The Stooges.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31:
DANNY SAYS
Director:
Brendan Toller
Premiere:
SXSW 2015
Select Festivals:
London, San Francisco Jewish, Provincetown, Sound + Vision, Big Sky, Montclair, Melbourne, CPH:DOX, Athens
About:
A portrait of an unsung music world impresario.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, January 31:
SEVEN SONGS FOR A LONG LIFE
Director:
Amy Hardie
Premiere:
Scotland (October 2015)
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Margaret Mead, Aspen, DOXA, GlobeDocs, Guth Gafa, EBS, Documentary Edge, DocPoint
About:
Hospice patients confront mortality through music.
Set in Strathcarron Hospice in Scotland, Hardie’s film follows nurse Mandy Malcomson, whose love of singing has encouraged a music therapy program for the residents, and six of her charges. Not a musical in a strict sense, the doc instead intermittently weaves in a number of songs, supplementing both observational and interview-based footage of the institution, its patients, and their caregivers. Some songs are performed impromptu by patients, like the Sinatra crooning Tosh and amateur opera singer Dorene, while others are more elaborate, produced in a music-video style, such as nurse Mandy and patient Nicola’s poignant duet of REM’s “Everybody Hurts.” Hardie wisely shows restraint here, preventing the proceedings from becoming either too twee or too dour, and ultimately focuses on the powerful impact this community support has on dealing with the complex reality of terminal illness and mortality.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 