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.

2016 DOC NYC in Focus: Science Nonfiction

food_evolutionAnother new section takes the spotlight in today’s DOC NYC preview: Science Nonfiction explores the cutting edge worlds of science and technology. Continue reading

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On DVD: AN HONEST LIAR

honest liarComing to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 1: AN HONEST LIAR

Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s surprising profile of a professional skeptic debuted at Tribeca in 2014. Its fest circuit also included Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Provincetown, Bergen, Denver, Reykjavik, Palm Springs, AFI Docs, Outfest, Big Sky, Cleveland, Napa Valley, and Key West, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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2016 DOC NYC in Focus: True Crime

santoallaToday’s profile of DOC NYC‘s film program begins with a new thematic section: True Crime. Continue reading

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On TV: WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS

full_what-tomorrowComing to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, October 31: WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS

Beth Murphy’s inside look at an Afghan girl’s school had its world premiere at Hot Docs this year after work-in-progress screenings at Nantucket and Human Rights Watch. Other screenings have included Camden, Woods Hole, Newburyport Doc, and Austin.

I wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Under the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan, girls were denied an education and women were not permitted to teach, resulting in a generation deprived of a future. While the ouster of the Taliban corrected this injustice, the group’s continued influence threatens the strides made in girls’ education. Director Beth Murphy takes us inside the Zabuli Education Center, the first all-girls’ school in a small, conservative village in the Deh’Subz district whose elders approach the idea with some trepidation. The film follows founder Razia Jan as she attempts to ease their concerns, and also focuses on three students and two female teachers, each reflecting the challenges and hopes that education offers for Afghanistan’s female population.

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2016 DOC NYC in Focus: DOC NYC PRO – Short List Day

PRO-1110x620For its second day, Friday, November 11, DOC NYC‘s programming for industry professionals, DOC NYC PRO, turns to our popular section predicting awards contenders, Short List Day. Continue reading

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DOK Leipzig 2016 Overview

dok-logo-300-dpi-veciDOK Leipzig, Germany’s longest-running nonfiction festival, holds its 59th edition beginning tonight, Monday, October 31. Between now and Sunday, November 6, more than 80 new documentary features will screen in a program that also celebrates animation while also offering several retrospective selections. The following puts the spotlight on the event’s eclectic nonfiction: Continue reading

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2016 DOC NYC in Focus: International Perspectives

doc-nyc-featured-imageMy DOC NYC preview wraps for the week with the globetrotting films of International Perspectives: Continue reading

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On TV: SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI: MY ATOMIC AUNT

atomic auntComing to PBS’s Doc World this Sunday, October 30: SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI: MY ATOMIC AUNT

Kyoko Miyake’s personal reflection on the Fukushima disaster debuted at Hamburg in 2013. Other festival play has included Dok Leipzig, EBS Doc, and DocPoint.

Miyake’s family hails from Namie, a fishing village whose residents reluctantly supported the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant when faced with a declining local industry. In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and nuclear accident, Namie has become a ghost town. Miyake follows her Aunt Kuniko back to the village to revisit her home and her various businesses – which included a funeral home, wedding planning business, and bakery – left abandoned in the aftermath. Part of the older generation turned atomic refugees, Kuniko has been slow to accept the reality that she won’t be able to return and rebuild her community and sources of livelihood. As Kuniko faces the harsh facts while surveying the damage, her experiences prompt Miyake’s own reckoning with the benefits and risks of nuclear power. The film is strongest when it’s focused on Kuniko, an appealing presence and point of identification; it falters in indulging too much of the filmmaker’s musings, which drag the proceedings down.

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2016 DOC NYC in Focus: American Perspectives

doc-nyc-featured-imageToday’s DOC NYC preview continues with a look at one of our perennial sections: American Perspectives, a panorama of stories from around the country: Continue reading

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2016 DOC NYC in Focus: DOC NYC PRO – First-Time Doc Maker Day

PRO-1110x620In addition to an expansive offering of films, DOC NYC, also presents DOC NYC PRO, a concurrent panel and masterclass series intended for working documentarians. The first day of DOC NYC PRO programming, Thursday, November 10, First-Time Doc Maker Day, serves as a crash course for newcomers to nonfiction filmmaking. Continue reading

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