Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 7: THEO WHO LIVED

David Schisgall’s chronicle of an American journalist’s Al Qaeda kidnapping debuted at Jerusalem this Summer. It has also screened at GlobeDocs.

Soon after freelance journalist Theo Padnos crossed the Turkish border into Syria to report on the civil war in the Fall of 2012, he was detained by Al Qaeda operatives. Suspected of being a plant by the CIA, he endured nearly two years of captivity – initially tortured but eventually developing a strange rapport with his captors – before his release. Schisgall follows Padnos back to the Middle East where he confronts this life-changing experience by, essentially, re-living it for the camera. The result is unsettling, confrontational, and not altogether successful cinematically. While the film seeks to celebrate his resilience, it begs questions about how damaged Padnos became as a result of his imprisonment.

New to DVD and VOD this week: COMING OUT

Alden Peters’ document of his coming out process debuted at DocUtah last year. It has also screened at RiverRun and at LGBT fests in Ft Lauderdale, New York, London, Milan, and Los Angeles.

University student Peters has kept his sexuality secret, only acting on it via online hookups. Inspired by a series of gay suicides that make national news in the Fall of 2010, including the case of a closeted Rutgers freshman who was secretly recorded by his roommate, he decides to come out and film the process as he tells siblings, parents, and close friends. To his benefit, but contributing virtually no conflict to his project, everyone he tells generally have no issue with homosexuality. The young man still feels out of place within the gay scene for awhile until he finally realizes he can make his own path. Peters is a nice enough protagonist, but his earnest film’s problem is that it feels as generic as its title – there’s no new ground being tread here that hasn’t been covered in hundreds of other coming out stories.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, October 4: THE HOMESTRETCH

Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly’s portrait of homeless teens premiered at Hot Docs in 2014. Its fest circuit also included AFI Docs, Citizen Jane, Indie Memphis, Human Rights Watch, and Hot Springs, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, October 4: WE LIKE IT LIKE THAT

Mathew Ramirez Warren’s tribute to Latin boogaloo debuted at SXSW last year. It also screened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Sound + Vision, Ambulante California, Urbanworld, San Diego Latino, and In-Edit Spain and Chile.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS tonight, Monday, October 3: WILLIE VELASQUEZ: YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE

Hector Galan’s profile of a community organizer has been shown at community screenings around the country and makes its debut on PBS stations this week.

Timed as a reminder of the considerable voting power of Latino/as in America, Galan introduces audiences to a largely unsung champion of voting rights, Mexican-American activist Willie Velasquez. Velasquez, realizing the only way for Latinos to gain any kind of advancement was through participating in the political process, founded Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, a grassroots, nonpartisan nonprofit that registered Latinos in 200 cities across several states, using the slogan “su voto es su voz,” which doubles as the film’s subtitle. He became the go-to contact for politicians on both sides of the aisle to seek an audience with Latino voters as both Republicans, and, more slowly, Democrats, realized their growing importance. While the film is conventionally constructed with an excess of narration, talking heads, and unnecessary re-enactments, Velasquez’s story offers historical and political interest.