Coming to NYC’s Rooftop FIlms tomorrow, Saturday, May 21: HOLY HELL
Will Allen’s reflection on life in a secretive cult premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Other fest berths have included Hot Docs, Nashville, Montclair, Minneapolis-St Paul, DocAviv, Martha’s Vineyard, and the upcoming Biografilm.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Friday, May 20: SONG OF LAHORE
Andy Schocken and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s crosscultural jazz doc made its bow at Tribeca last year. Screenings have followed at IDFA, Sydney, Melbourne, Hamptons, Heartland, and Dubai.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 20: ALMOST HOLY
Steve Hoover’s portrait of a controversial do-gooder made its debut at Tribeca last year, under its original title, CROCODILE GENNADIY. The doc’s festival circuit has included IDFA, Hamptons, ZagrebDox, Tallinn Black Nights, Maryland, Heartland, San Francisco DocFest, Sidewalk, Bergen, Portland, and One World, among others.
For years, pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko has waged a crusade to save the children of his struggling nation, Ukraine. He regularly patrols Mariupol, picking up abandoned and lost street children, often via force, and brings them to his rehab center, Pilgrim Republic, to kick drugs and a dead-end existence of abuse. While some celebrate his vigilantism, others decry it, making him a frequent guest on local television programs. In his own mind, he’s a savior, and one willing to resort to extreme measures when his corrupt government seems little-inclined to intervene. Mokhnenko makes for a compelling, if confounding, hero and anti-hero in equal parts, a caring father figure for the children he saves – or attempts to – but also a violent demagogue, though one who is often surprisingly funny and charming. He offers himself uncensored for Hoover’s camera, while the filmmaker intercuts Mokhnenko’s relative successes in the early 2000s with present-day footage that tackles Ukraine’s descent into war and chaos even as he continues on his seemingly endless – and hopeless – mission.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Tonight, Thursday, May 19 sees the kick-off of the three-week-long Seattle International Film Festival. The 42nd edition of the popular event will wrap on Sunday, June 12 after presenting scores of new and retrospective films, including approximately 75 feature documentaries. In addition to several competitive and thematic strands, organizers have grouped the lineup according to eight “Moods,” several of which are covered below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 20: PERVERT PARK
Frida Barkfors and Lasse Barkfors’ intimate profile of an outsider enclave debuted at CPH:DOX in 2014. It went on to screen at Sundance, where it won a special jury award, as well as at BAMcinemaFest, Hot Docs, Dokufest, New Zealand, Sarasota, San Francisco Doc Fest, and Minneapolis, among other events.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to the Discovery Channel tomorrow, Thursday, May 19: SONIC SEA
Michelle Dougherty and Daniel Hinerfeld’s exploration of the impact of noise on marine life debuted at Wild & Scenic at the beginning of the year. Other fests have included Big Sky, Washington DC’s Environmental, DocuWest, Provincetown, Princeton Environmental, and San Francisco Green, as well as a host of specialized screenings around the world. Discovery’s worldwide broadcast is part of its Discovery Impact series.
Dougherty and Hinerfeld’s midlength offers viewers an engaging, empathetic view of sealife and the invisible factors that are endangering it – namely, manmade noise. With sound-based communication pivotal to the well-being of dolphins, whales, and other marine life, the incursion of humans into this sonic landscape has been traumatic. Beyond increased traffic by noisy industrial vessels and the use of sonar, the film notes the growth of the practice of triggering underwater explosions to prospect for oil – all contributing to a cacophony below the surface that has led to tragic death and confusion. This well-made film makes for a solid call to action on an under-reported environmental issue, thought it begs for expansion to a full-length project.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Ecuador’s largest nonfiction event, EDOC – Encuentros del Otro Cine – celebrates its 15th edition starting today, Wednesday, May 18, with screenings through Sunday, May 29 in Quito, and through Thursday, June 2 in Guayaquil. This year’s lineup includes over 100 features and shorts, organized thematically, with some highlights noted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
New to DVD/VOD this week: THE WINDING STREAM
Beth Harrington’s exploration of the musical Carter and Cash families made its bow at SXSW in 2014. Its festival circuit also included Cleveland, Nashville, Atlanta, the Southern Circuit, Woods Hole, Sound + Vision, DokuFest, Hot Springs Doc, New Orleans’ filmOrama, Galway, and St Louis.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, May 17: TROUBLEMAKERS: THE STORY OF LAND ART
James Crump’s chronicle of the expansion of art out of the gallery premiered at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art last Fall. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, New York Film Festival, St Louis, Milan’s Fondazione Prada, and Art Basel Miami, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction this Thursday, May 19: FLORENT: QUEEN OF THE MEAT MARKET
David Sigal’s look at the end of a NYC institution debuted at NewFest in 2009, where it won an audience award. Other screenings included Outfest, Seattle LGBT, and the NYC Food Film Festival.
For nearly a quarter of a century, the legendary Florent diner served the colorful denizens of New York City – from drag queens to blue-haired doyens, A-list celebrities to club kids, tourists to late-night partiers. The all-night eatery, based in the heart of the once-feared and now-chic Meatpacking District, was the brainchild of beloved French transplant, Florent Morellet, an HIV-positive gay activist who early on saw how his establishment could thrive not by cultivating exclusivity, but by embracing diversity. The restaurant could survive seemingly anything – except for a radical increase in rent, forcing Morellet to close on Gay Pride Day in June, 2008. Sigal’s entertaining film chronicles not only the story of the man and his restaurant, but of the radical changes that have impacted the culture and society of New York City since the diner’s opening in the mid-1980s – from the LGBT community’s struggle with the AIDS epidemic and homophobia, to the economic development of formerly seedy neighborhoods often at the expense of long-standing institutions like Florent itself.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 