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.
August 12, 2022 · 1:31 PM

Special Screening: RIOTSVILLE, USA

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, August 13:
RIOTSVILLE, USA

Director:
Sierra Pettengill

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
New Directors/New Films, True/False, CPH:DOX, Seattle, Freep, San Francisco, Traverse City

About:
Footage shot by the media and government of a fictional town built by the US military explores the militarization of the police and the reaction of a nation to the uprisings of the late 1960s, creating a counter-narrative to a critical moment in American history.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

August 12, 2022 · 12:01 PM

In Theatres: FREE CHOL SOO LEE

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Grant Din

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 12:
FREE CHOL SOO LEE

Director:
Julie Ha, Eugene Yi

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
BAMcinemaFest, Santa Barbara, Milwaukee, CAAMFest, Los Angeles, Asian Pacific, Asian American fests in New York, Seattle, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Austin

About:
After a Korean immigrant is wrongly convicted of a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gang murder, Asian Americans unite as never before to free Chol Soo Lee.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

August 11, 2022 · 3:02 PM

Streaming: SKID ROW MARATHON

Coming to Topic today, Thursday, August 11:
SKID ROW MARATHON

Director:
Mark Hayes

World Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2017

Select Festivals:
Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Big Sky Doc, Napa Valley, Salem, Ashland, Woods Hole, Heartland, Boulder

About:
A Los Angeles superior court judge begins a running club to help motivate marginalized people on Skid Row.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 11, 2022 · 2:12 PM

In Theatres: EL GRAN MOVIMIENTO

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 12:
EL GRAN MOVIMIENTO

Director:
Kiro Russo

World Premiere:
Venice 2021

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, New York, Rotterdam, San Sebastián, Hamburg, Gent, Vienna, Geneva, Göteborg

About:
A supernatural hybrid of dream and reality, in which a miner in an oxygen-starved metropolis is haunted by nightmares and a shamanistic ritual is the only way out.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 11, 2022 · 1:31 PM

In Theatres: BAATO

Coming to theatres today, Thursday, August 11:
BAATO

Director:
Kate Stryker, Lucas Millard

World Premiere:
Big Sky Doc 2020

Select Festivals:
Woods Hole, Mountainfilm, Austin, Princeton Environmental

About:
A Nepalese family takes a long trek by foot to sell local items in urban markets.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 11, 2022 · 12:01 PM

In Theatres: BLOOM UP: A SWINGER COUPLE STORY

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 12:
BLOOM UP: A SWINGER COUPLE STORY

Director:
Mauro Russo Rouge

World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2021

Select Festivals:
Biografilm, Mallorca

About:
An average middle-aged Italian couple by day, Hermes and Betta live out their unbridled sexual fantasies as swingers by night.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 10, 2022 · 3:02 PM

In Theatres: LE TEMPS PERDU

Coming to theatres this Friday, August 12:
LE TEMPS PERDU

Director:
Maria Alvarez

World Premiere:
IDFA 2020

Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Sydney, Doclisboa

About:
At a cafe in Buenos Aires, a group of aging Marcel Proust fans have been getting together for years to read IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, the author’s seven-part classic novel.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 10, 2022 · 1:31 PM

In Theatres: WE ARE AS GODS

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Thursday, August 11:
WE ARE AS GODS

Director:
Jason Sussberg, David Alvarado

World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, SXSW 2021, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Poland’s American Festival

About:
Stewart Brand, legendary pioneer of LSD, cyberspace, futurism, and modern environmentalism, now urges people to use our god-like powers to fight extinction by reviving lost species.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 10, 2022 · 12:01 PM

Streaming: TO A MORE PERFECT UNION: US V WINDSOR

Coming to OVID tomorrow, Thursday, August 11:
TO A MORE PERFECT UNION: US V WINDSOR

Director:
Donna Zaccaro

World Premiere:
Woodstock 2017

Select Festivals:
Nashville, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Boston and Miami

About:
The decades-long love between a lesbian couple serves to revisit the story of marriage equality in the US.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 9, 2022 · 3:02 PM

On DVD: JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 9:
JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY

Director:
Frank Marshall, Ryan Suffern

World Premiere:
SXSW 2021

About:
A soulful and heartfelt celebration of 50 years of the funky and fabulous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the unique culture of the southern city.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases