Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Tuesday, January 10 and to VOD tomorrow, Wednesday, January 11:
COMMAND AND CONTROL
Director:
Robert Kenner
Premiere:
Tribeca 2016
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, AFI Docs, Traverse City, deadCENTER, Camden, GlobeDocs
Notable Recognition:
The doc has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
About:
A freak accident in an Arkansas missile complex nearly resulted in a nuclear detonation in 1980.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
GIVE ME FUTURE
Austin Peters chronicles EDM band Major Lazer’s massive free concert in Havana.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, January 10: CAMERAPERSON
Director:
Kirsten Johnson
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, True/False, Miami, SXSW, New Directors/New Films, Full Frame, Sarasota, RiverRun, Nashville, Hot Docs, DOXA, San Francisco
Notable Recognition:
The doc has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
About:
An acclaimed documentary cinematographer’s memoir through her camera lens.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to VOD this week:
BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Director:
Garrett Zevgetis
Premiere:
SXSW 2016
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Camden, Margaret Mead, Mill Valley, Florida, IFFBoston, Dallas, Bentonville, Philadelphia, Denver, IndieBo
About:
The unexpected coming of age of a young, legally blind woman with Asperger’s syndrome.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Two more additions have been made to the lineup of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, which begins next Thursday, January 19:
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES:
TRUMPED: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL UPSET OF ALL TIME
Directors: Banks Tarver, Ted Bourne, & Mary Robertson / USA
In a behind-the-scenes look at the biggest political upset in recent history, Mark Halperin, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon offer unprecedented access and never-before-seen footage of candidate Trump, from the primaries through the debates to the dawning realization that the controversial businessman will become the 45th President of the United States. World Premiere
PREMIERES:
NEWNESS
Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriter: Ben York Jones / USA
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries. Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Laia Costa, Danny Huston, Courtney Eaton, Matthew Gray Gubler, Albert Hammond Jr. World Premiere
Earlier lineup announcements include the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, plus NEXT; New Frontier; Premieres, Documentary Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, Kids, and Special Events; AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL; late feature additions; and Shorts.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
CRIES FROM SYRIA
Evgeny Afineevsky presents an overarching account of the impact of Syria’s civil war on its people.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, January 9:
CONTAINMENT
Directors:
Peter Galison and Robb Moss
Premiere:
Full Frame 2015
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Zurich, Vancouver, Denver, RiverRun, Tallgrass, GlobeDocs, Global Peace, Woods Hole, SF Green
About:
A sobering consideration of how humanity can safely contend with radioactive waste.
Taking a broad look, both practical and philosophical, and extending millennia into the future, Galison and Moss’ project attempts to reckon with the inescapable byproducts of nuclear energy and weapons and how to protect both present-day humanity and our descendants for ages to come from their toxicity. More immediate concerns are explored in three locations in the present: the Waste Isolation Plant in Carlsbad NM, whose 2014 closure led to the relocation of waste to the Savannah River Site in SC, and, of course, Japan’s Fukushima disaster site. While it would have been hard for the filmmakers to exclude the latter from their project, it’s been covered so extensively elsewhere that it feels like something of a retread compared to the WIPP story. Similarly, the film’s consideration of the various barriers we face in trying to convey warnings or markers of buried waste to humanity in the far future, while intriguing, has already been addressed in INTO ETERNITY. Still Galison and Moss’ use of graphics and animation to help envision this uncertain future brings a certain creative flair to the proceedings.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
BENDING THE ARC
Kief Davidson and Pedro Kos chronicle the paradigm-shifting healthcare efforts of a determined team of advocates.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Monday, January 9:
BY SIDNEY LUMET
Director:
Nancy Buirski
Premiere:
Cannes 2015
Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Jerusalem, Deauville, Full Frame, Traverse City, Austin, Mumbai, the Hamptons, Jewish fests in Atlanta, Toronto, and Philadelphia
About:
An appreciation of the noted film director.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
500 YEARS
Pamela Yates completes her epic Guatemalan trilogy, which began in 1983.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 