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.

In Theatres: WE (NOUS)

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, June 22:
WE (NOUS)

Director:
Alice Diop

World Premiere:
Berlin 2021

Select Festivals:
IDFA, New Directors/New Films, BFI London, Karlovy Vary, Indieslisboa, Bergen, Cinéma du Réel, Taipei, Cairo, Bilbao, DOXA, Visions du Réel

About:
A nuanced, kaleidoscopic portrait of people from largely Black and immigrant communities in the Parisian suburbs.

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On TV & Streaming: 37 WORDS

Coming to ESPN’s 30 for 30 series as well as ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21:
37 WORDS

Director:
Dawn Porter, Nicole Newnham

World Premiere:
ESPN (June 2022)

About:
A docuseries chronicling the hard-fought battle of Title IX in upholding equal rights in education and athletics.

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On TV: BEING BEBE

Coming to Fuse tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21:
BEING BEBE

Director:
Emily Branham

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021

Select Festivals:
Provincetown, NewFest, Outfest, BFI Flare, Tallgrass, Sound Unseen, Image+Nation, Heartland

About:
In 2009, Bebe Zahara Benet was crowned the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, but the franchise hadn’t yet achieved notoriety, so without an infrastructure to support her next steps, Bebe is confronted with the fickleness of fame.

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On TV & Streaming: MIND OVER MURDER

Coming to HBO and HBO Max today, Monday, June 20:
MIND OVER MURDER

Director:
Nanfu Wang

World Premiere:
HBO (June 2022)

About:
A docuseries chronicling the bizarre and psychologically complex story of the “Beatrice Six,” convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old grandmother, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska, but later exonerated by DNA evidence, dividing the rural town.

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On TV: WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, June 20:
WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?

Director:
Christine Choy, Renee Tajima-Peña

World Premiere:
New Directors/New Films 1987

Notable Recognition:
The film was was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

About:
An in-depth investigation into the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, murdered by two white men, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, in Detroit, Michigan on June 19, 1982, and a chronicle of how the case brought together disparate Asian American communities into a national movement. Re-presented in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Chin’s murder.

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In Theatres & Streaming: CIVIL

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 17 and to Netflix this Sunday, June 19:
CIVIL

Director:
Nadia Hallgren

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022

Select Festivals:
American Black

About:
An intimate yet expansive profile of Ben Crump, the lawyer dubbed “Black America’s attorney general.”

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Special Screening: BEBA

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, June 18:
BEBA

Director:
Rebeca Huntt

World Premiere:
Toronto 2021

Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, Docaviv, Miami, Tribeca, Provincetown, Minneapolis-St Paul

About:
A raw, poetic self-portrait in which a young, NYC-born Afro-Latina filmmaker stares down historical, societal, and generational trauma.

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Streaming: SELFIE

Coming to Film Movement Plus today, Friday, June 17:
SELFIE

Director:
Agostino Ferrente

World Premiere:
Berlin 2019

Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Cinéma du Réel, BAFICI, Thessaloniki Doc, Reykjavik, Goteborg, Taiwan Doc

About:
Two 16-year-olds film themselves with a cell phone to tell the story of their friendship, the tragedy of Davide, and their lives in the rough Traiano district of Naples.

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In Theatres: BITTERBRUSH

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 17:
BITTERBRUSH

Director:
Emelie Mahdavian

World Premiere:
Telluride 2021

Select Festivals:
Visions du Réel, San Francisco, Sydney

About:
Two women set up camp at a tiny cabin and begin their season of work, to feed their dreams: to own their own livestock, to have true independence, and to start a family. 

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In Theatres: STAY PRAYED UP

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 17:
STAY PRAYED UP

Director:
DL Anderson, Matt Durning

World Premiere:
Telluride 2021

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Virginia

About:
The gospel trio The Branchettes prepare to record their live album in the modest congregation of their youth, in this passionate yet humble portrait of an artist. 

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