The 18th edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival begins tomorrow, Friday, March 11, and will present approximately 140 new and recent nonfiction features by the time it ends on Sunday, March 20. The following overview offers some highlights in many of the thematic sections of the event: Continue reading
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Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2016 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: CITY OF GOLD
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 11: CITY OF GOLD
Laura Gabbert’s profile of a restaurant critic and his love for Los Angeles made its debut at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, SXSW, Melbourne, Napa Valley, Vancouver, Traverse City, deadCENTER, Provincetown, Newport Beach, AFI Docs, New Zealand, and Montclair, among other fests.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
SXSW 2016: Documentary Overview
SXSW returns this Friday, March 11, with approximately 140 features screening as part of the event’s film program, running through Saturday, March 19. Among these are nearly 60 documentaries, a slight reduction from last year’s record 68, appearing throughout many of the festival’s sections, highlighted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, March 9: HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX
Jenny Raskin and Jon Nealon’s history of video trailblazers premiered at Full Frame last year. It went on to screen at BAMcinemaFest, Woods Hole, FilmColumbia, DOK Leipzig, St Louis, Rotterdam, Big Sky, and Cinequest, among other events.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Tribeca 2016: Additional Programming Announced
Following last week’s announcement of the bulk of this year’s programming, the Tribeca Film Festival today revealed the films in its Spotlight, Midnight, Special Events, Special Screenings, and Works In Progress sections, bringing the total of feature documentaries to be presented at this year’s festival to 48, plus two works-in-progress – making up approximately half of the festival’s total lineup. Nonfiction titles unveiled today are noted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
On DVD: THE MASK YOU LIVE IN
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 8: THE MASK YOU LIVE IN
Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s exploration of the impact of gender stereotypes debuted at Sundance last year. Other fest appearances include Cinequest, Minneapolis-St Paul, Napa Valley, Las Vegas, St Johns International Women’s, and Berkshire.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Special Screening: LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER!
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan CineMatters series tonight, Tuesday, March 8: LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER!
Gayle Kirschenbaum’s exploration of her fraught relationship with her mother debuted at Sarasota last year. Other screenings included DocAviv, Woods Hole, Rhode Island, Woodstock, Orlando, Mumbai, and Jewish fests in Toronto, Nashville, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Miami and Baton Rouge.
Kirschenbaum continues to mine the personal terrain that was the subject of her previous film, MY NOSE, a short that focused on her mother Mildred’s obsession with her daughter’s appearance. Expanding from this premise to take a wider look at their mother/daughter relationship, Kirschenbaum’s new film is, essentially, filmmaking as therapy, for all the good – and bad – that this entails. From Kirschenbaum’s standpoint, she has suffered from years of humiliation, criticism, and downright abuse from the hypercritical Mildred, while the mother points to her daughter’s lifelong defiance and inability to let go of minor things. While the filmmaker eventually convinces herself to look past her mother’s prickliness to consider what made her that way, this doesn’t ameliorate the awkwardness of the proceedings for the viewer. Focused on such a fundamental relationship as that between a child and a parent, audiences can certainly relate to some extent, but it’s like being invited to a friend’s home for dinner only to silently witness the evening erupt into a never-ending family fight, with no escape in sight.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Special Screening: NEWMAN
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8: NEWMAN
Jon Fox’s profile of a man who could have changed the world debuted at the Hamptons last Fall. Other fests have included DOC NYC, where it received a special jury mention, and Irvine.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In 1979, Joseph Newman, a self-educated inventor in the backwoods of Mississippi, claimed to develop a motor that defied the laws of physics. Mainstream news stations, and even an appearance on THE TONIGHT SHOW, spread the revolutionary potential of his magnetic perpetual motion machine, which could end our dependence on oil and gas. Instead, as detailed in Jon Fox’s stranger-than-fiction debut, the maverick faced a decades-long, and increasingly paranoid, battle against the US Patent Office and the scientific establishment.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On TV: BADDDDD SONIA SANCHEZ
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8: BADDDDD SONIA SANCHEZ
Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon profile of the influential artist and activist had its world premiere at Full Frame last year. The doc went on to screen at DOC NYC, New Orleans, BlackStar, Black Harvest, Hot Springs Doc, Mill Valley, and LA’s Pan African fests.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
“I want to tell people how I became this woman with razor blades between her teeth.” So says Sonia Sanchez, a seminal figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, a poet who has harnessed her gift for words as a champion against racism, sexism, and war, fusing art and activism over the past six decades. As a pioneer of spoken word poetry, her influence on hip hop is fundamental, but her tireless commitment to justice for all people has come at a personal cost, as demonstrated in this vibrant portrait.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: WE COME AS FRIENDS
Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, March 8: WE COME AS FRIENDS
Hubert Sauper’s meditation on African neo-colonialism made its bow at Sundance in 2014, winning a special jury award. Screening berths followed at Berlin, New Directors/New Films, BAFICI, Istanbul, San Francisco, Durban, Dokufest, Rio, Busan, London, Jihlava, CPH:DOX, IDFA, and Traverse City, among many others. The film was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar in 2015.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
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