Author Archives: basiltsiokos

basiltsiokos's avatar

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.

On VOD: MISSION: JOY – FINDING HAPPINESS IN TROUBLED TIMES

New to VOD this week:
MISSION: JOY – FINDING HAPPINESS IN TROUBLED TIMES

Director:
Louie Psihoyos

Co-Director:
Peggy Callahan

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021

Select Festivals:
Thessaloniki Doc, Docs Against Gravity, Cleveland, Boulder, Mill Valley, Palm Springs, Mountainfilm

About:
An exploration of the friendship between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Streaming: THE PATRIOT GAME

Coming to Ovid.tv tomorrow, Friday, June 10:
THE PATRIOT GAME

Director:
Arthur MacCaig

World Premiere:
Cannes 1979

Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Cinema du Reel, Festival dei Popoli

About:
An essay film examining the conflict in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1978, covering the height of the Troubles.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Streaming: KEEP SWEET: PRAY AND OBEY

Coming to Netflix today, Wednesday, June 8:
KEEP SWEET: PRAY AND OBEY

Director:
Rachel Dretzin

Co-Director:
Grace McNally

World Premiere:
Netflix (June 2022)

About:
A docuseries examining the rise and fall of Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

On VOD: BEING BEBE

New to VOD this week:
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.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

On VOD: BALONEY

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 7:
BALONEY

Director:
Joshua Guerci

World Premiere:
Frameline 2021

Select Festivals:
Outfest, LGBT fests in Tel Aviv, Palm Springs, Boston, Seattle,

About:
The titillating and charming story behind San Francisco’s first and only all-male gay revue.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Tribeca 2022: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 21st Tribeca Festival

Dates:
June 8-19

About:
Approximately 140 features and episodic content – about half of that nonfiction – screens in this NYC event.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations

On TV & Streaming: THE JANES

Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Wednesday, June 8:
THE JANES

Director:
Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
San Francisco, Cleveland, Athena, Minneapolis-St Paul

About:
The story of “Jane,” a group of women in Chicago who built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, and illegal abortions before Roe v Wade.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

On DVD/VOD: SEARCHING FOR MR RUGOFF

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7:
SEARCHING FOR MR RUGOFF

Director:
Ira Deutchman

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019

Select Festivals:
Palm Springs, Cleveland, Wisconsin, Galway, Mill Valley

About:
A look back at the outsized personality behind legendary art house distributor Cinema 5.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

On VOD: A SEXPLANATION

Coming to VOD today, Monday, June 6:
A SEXPLANATION

Director:
Alex Liu

World Premiere:
Cinequest 2021

Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Frameline, Inside Out, Sebastopol Doc, NYC Asian American, Zurich, Anchorage, Honolulu, Tallgrass

About:
The filmmaker probes the failures of our country’s sex education, the proliferation of pornography, and the stigma that is still attached to sex in America today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

On DVD: MAU

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7:
MAU

Director:
Benji Bergmann, Jono Bergmann

World Premiere:
SXSW 2021

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Tallinn Black Nights

About:
The unlikely story of design visionary Bruce Mau and his ever-optimistic push for massive change.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases