Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan as part of their CineMatters series tonight, Tuesday, February 23: MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
Greg Whiteley’s appraisal of alternative education models debuted at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at Tribeca, AFI Fest, Montclair, Cleveland, Seattle, Sarasota, Dallas, and Sun Valley, among other events.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23: HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX
Jenny Raskin and Jon Nealon’s chronicle of a pioneering video collective had its debut at Full Frame last year. Screenings followed at BAMcinemaFest, Woods Hole, FilmColumbia, DOK Leipzig, St Louis, Rotterdam, and the upcoming Big Sky and Cinequest fests.
In 1969, the emergence of handheld video cameras promised a revolution in journalism, and the Videofreex heeded the call. As revealed in Raskin and Nealon’s affectionate history, the ragtag assemblage of young would-be reporters began shooting anything and everything, eventually coming to the attention of a young CBS News executive who saw their potential to capture the burgeoning counterculture movement. Outfitting them with an RV and financing, the Videofreex set out across the country to shoot interviews for a pilot, which included Abbie Hoffman in the midst of the Chicago 8 trial, Black Panther Fred Hampton just weeks before his murder, and Woodstock attendees. When the network got cold feet, the collective was forced to go it alone, setting up shop in Soho until financial considerations led to a relocation to upstate New York, where they created a pirate television station that covered decidedly less radical topics. With extensive footage thats equal parts entertaining and thought-provoking, this fascinating film gives these mavericks their long overdue moment in the sun.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, February 22: BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS
Douglas McGrath’s appreciation of the acclaimed director’s early years had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23: ADAMA
David Felix Sutcliffe’s look at the impact of a terrorism investigation on a teenager’s family made its debut on PBS’s WORLD Channel in 2011. It went on to screen at the LES Film Festival and the Apollo Theater’s WOW Festival.
Sutcliffe made his directorial debut with this project before teaming with acclaimed photojournalist Lyric R Cabral to make the Sundance award-winning (T)ERROR, which makes its broadcast debut tonight on PBS. In this mid-length, Sutcliffe profiles the titular Adama Bah, an African American Muslim teenage girl from Harlem who finds her life thrown in disarray after she is suspected of being an imminent security threat by the FBI at the age of sixteen. Held for six weeks, she is released with no charges filed against her, but during the investigation, the authorities uncover her father’s undocumented status as a Guinean immigrant and arrest him as well. Sutcliffe follows Adama after her release, while she is still monitored by the FBI with an ankle bracelet, and details the reasons for her arrest, stemming from an embrace of Islam and the adoption of the hijab in her teenage years. Demonstrating the devastating fallout of the dual arrests on the young woman and her family, the film remains a cautionary tale in a time of increasing xenophobia, religious intolerance, and fears of domestic terrorism.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 22: (T)ERROR
Lyric R Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s surprising inside look at a counterterrorism informant made its bow at Sundance last year, where it won a special jury award. Screenings followed at Nantucket, True/False, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Full Frame, Nashville, and Human Rights Watch, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, February 19: CRAZY ABOUT TIFFANY’S
Matthew Miele’s love letter to the storied jewelry icon makes its debut in limited engagements in NYC, LA, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, San Francisco, and other select cities. Gravitas Ventures also makes the film available on VOD across cable platforms, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, Playstation, and more.
Making no claims to being a comprehensive history or social critique, Miele’s film instead unabashedly celebrates the luxury brand’s global reach and aspirational status, with the full participation of the company. As an authorized piece, the doc does it’s laudatory job well enough, touching on signature elements like Tiffany’s distinctive blue color and its instantly recognizable signature white ribboned boxes, and referencing notable pop cultural references, from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S and SWEET HOME ALABAMA to the Deep Blue Something hit song that borrows its name from the Blake Edwards’ film. While a bit scattershot, pingponging from these moments to behind-the-scenes looks at jewelry design, snippets of store and Tiffany family history, episodes with Jessica Biel surveying the gems she’ll wear at the Oscars, a consideration of the international expansion of the brand, and, of course, celebrity and stylist appreciations, there are enough engaging elements here that make for an enjoyable, if very light, pop cultural tribute.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Croatia’s ZagrebDox launches its 12th edition this Sunday, February 21 and runs through next Sunday, February 28. More than 160 new and retrospective features and shorts will screen as part of the event, the nation’s largest documentary showcase. While much of this includes local debuts of films that are already well-traveled on the international festival circuit, the festival also affords the opportunity to view new regional work, a sampling of which is provided below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Tomorrow night, Friday, February 19, sees the start of the 15th anniversary edition of MoMA’s annual nonfiction showcase, Documentary Fortnight, with the NYC premiere of Billy Woodberry’s AND WHEN I DIE, I WON’T STAY DEAD, about unheralded African American Beat poet Bob Kaufman. Eighteen features and several shorts will screen before the series wraps on Monday, February 29 with the world premiere of Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil’s INNATE/SE/ [IT SHINES A CERTAIN WAY. TO A CERTAIN PLACE./IT FLIES. FALLS./], which reclaims the Ojibway story for the Native American people themselves.
Also making its world premiere is Beth B’s CALL HER APPLEBROOG (pictured), a portrait of the filmmaker’s mother, artist Ida Applebroog. North American premieres include: John Gianvito’s WAKE (SUBIC), an exploration of the damage done to the Philippines by continued US military presence; Jacques Perconte’s ETTRICK, an experimental film manipulating Scottish landscapes into abstract art images; K8 Hardy’s OUTFITUMENTARY, a portrait of the artist through a dozen year’s of personal fashion choices; and Ane Hjort Guttu’s TIME PASSES, which follows a student’s solidarity with a homeless Roma woman as part of a performance art project.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’s American Masters this Friday, February 19: CAROLE KING: NATURAL WOMAN
George Scott’s portrait of the accomplished singer-songwriter makes its world premiere on the popular public television series devoted to US artists and cultural icons.
Timed to coincide with the 45th anniversary of King’s influential solo album, Tapestry, still beloved for producing such classics as “I Feel the Earth Move,” and “It’s Too Late,” Scott’s film gives the acclaimed musician her due. Interviews with the eminently likeable King herself, both present-day and archival, provide the thread through which her life and career are revealed, offering early biographical details as the young would-be teacher instead pursued a musical path. King, who partnered with lyricist Gerry Goffin, and fellow songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil reveal fascinating details about their roles in the factory songwriting process which allowed them to churn out hit songs for a revolving door of pop performers like The Shirelles and Aretha Franklin, often in the space of days if not hours. The doc importantly also details King’s evolution from behind-the-scenes creator to public performer, part of the wave of singer-songwriters that emerged in the 1970s, with numerous clips demonstrating the talent that led to four Grammy Awards, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, among other accolades, as well as the popular Broadway musical, BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
This Friday, February 19 kicks off the 13th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula MT. Running through Sunday, February 28, the state’s largest film event will present several competitions, as well as a diverse range of non-competitive sidebars on themes including native concerns, conflict resolution, nature, culture, history, adventure, local filmmaking, and retrospectives of the work of Lucy Walker and Ondi Timoner. A selection of the more than 60 new and recent feature docs is included below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 