Coming to DVD next Tuesday, August 27: KOCH
Neil Barsky’s exploration of the life and political career of Hizzoner debuted at the Hamptons last Fall. It went on to screen at Palm Springs and several Jewish fests, including Boston, New York, Toronto, and Atlanta before enjoying a limited theatrical release.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS this Sunday, August 25: THE CAMPAIGN
Christie Herring’s behind-the-scenes look back at California’s No-on-8 campaign had its world premiere at Frameline earlier this Summer. It went on to screen at gay fests in Denver, North Carolina, and Houston, before launching its national public television broadcast. The ITVS produced doc will be shown on PBS stations in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Knoxville, Idaho, and Kalamazoo.
Herring’s film focuses on the 2008 battle in the state of California to allow voters to restrict marriage to heterosexual pairs. The infamous ballot initiative, Proposition 8, was a response to the California Supreme Court’s ruling that a previous ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. As supporters of Prop 8 used fear tactics and religious arguments to mobilize voters, Herring turned the spotlight on San Francisco’s No-on-8 campaign headquarters, following the work of campaign organizers and on-the-ground volunteers working to prevent discrimination from being written into the California constitution. To provide further context, highlights of modern gay history – from Mattachine to the wave of gay marriage bans in the wake of the 1998 Hawaiian state constitutional amendment – run periodically throughout the film. As the Prop 8 campaign polls swing for and against same sex marriage, the doc profiles several of the volunteers and their often poignant responses to the tenor of the campaign and its likely impact on their lives. In the film’s closing scenes, Herring importantly notes the renewal of activism that was catalyzed in the wake of the decision, leading to the most recent development as the Supreme Court put an end to Prop 8 and DOMA. Screening during the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for civil rights, the PBS broadcasts of the doc underscore that any discriminatory laws are unjust laws, regardless of race or sexuality, and that change is only possible when enough people stand up for equality.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV this Monday, August 26: 5 BROKEN CAMERAS
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s personal and visceral experience of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict debuted at IDFA in 2011, where it won two awards. It came stateside at Sundance last year, picking up the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award. The doc’s fest circuit included New Directors/New Films, Thessaloniki Documentary, Traverse City, Human Rights Watch, Vancouver, Dharamshala, and Hot Docs, among others. It was one of the five nominees for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar this year.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Friday, August 23: THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
Bill Siegel’s penetrating exploration of the controversy over the boxing legend’s refusal to serve in Vietnam debuted at Tribeca earlier this year. The film went on to Seattle, Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Melbourne, and Montclair, among other festivals.
I included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 20: NO PLACE ON EARTH
Janet Tobias’ stranger than fiction story of Jewish cave-dwelling survivors of Nazi persecution debuted at Toronto last year. It went on to screen at the Hamptons, IDFA, Martha’s Vineyard, Sarasota, Sidewalk, Miami, and several Jewish film festivals, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 20: DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY
Ramona S Diaz’s rags to rockstar riches chronicle made its world premiere at Tribeca last year. The film want on to San Francisco, Silverdocs, Dubai, Traverse City, Sedona, San Diego Asian, and Palm Springs, and had a limited theatrical release last Spring.
I previously covered the doc out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 20: FREE ANGELA & ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
Shola Lynch’s look at Angela Davis’ time as a fugitive debuted last year at Toronto. It went on to screen at London, Pan African, Montclair, Melbourne, Tempo Doc, Durban, Martha’s Vineyard, and Full Frame, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Bronx Documentary Center tomorrow, Saturday, August 17: P-STAR RISING
Gabriel Noble’s portrait of a hip hop prodigy and her father debuted at Tribeca in 2009. It went on to an extensive festival run, including Hot Docs, Sheffield, Sarasota, Stockholm, Bergen, Zurich, Chicago Latino, and Heartland, among others.
In the early 1980s, a prison term cost Jesse Díaz his dreams of success at the dawn of hip hop. Decades later, broke, unemployed, and living in temporary housing, he struggles to support his family as a single father. Recognizing his youngest daughter’s musical talent, he aims to turn the precocious Priscilla into hip hop artist P-Star, “the youngest girl on the scene” – and the answer to his deferred dreams of stardom and wealth. Noble films the Díaz family over four years, capturing the fits and starts of P-Star’s career, its impact on her neglected older sister and on her own childhood, the fallout of their mother’s crack addiction, and strains between Jesse’s demands as a manager and his responsibilities as a father. The result is a surprisingly candid look at family dynamics in the face of ambition borne out of a mix of a father’s desperation, compensation, and love.
Note: The screening will include a Q&A with Gabriel Noble and the film’s protagonist, Priscilla Star Díaz.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Unearthing the largely forgotten story of the world’s first female film director.
At the dawn of the film industry, Alice Guy was a secretary at France’s Gaumont, but her pioneering forays into filmmaking soon led to her taking on the role of head of production for the fledgling film company. Beyond being recognized as the first woman to direct a film, she is also considered, by some accounts, to be the originator of narrative storytelling in the nascent medium. After more than a decade with Gaumont, including relocating to oversee production for the company’s US office, Guy married, and with her husband formed the Solax Company in Flushing NY, where she took the role of artistic director, once again breaking new ground as the first woman to run her own film studio. In over two decades, she was responsible for an estimated 1000 films, and though she continued to lecture on cinema after the advent of the talkies, Guy-Blaché was relegated to the footnotes of cinema history for decades. While film scholars have attempted to correct this oversight in recent years, she still remains virtually unknown. Learning of her story, director Pamela Green and co-director Jarik van Sluijs set out to change that, reintroducing her to today’s filmmakers and film audiences. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Coming to PBS’ POV next Monday, August 19: THE LAW IN THESE PARTS
Ra’Anan Alexandrowicz’s examination of Israeli military law in the occupied territories made its debut at Jerusalem in 2011, where it won best documentary. It repeated the win for its stateside bow made at Sundance, claiming the documentary world cinema grand jury prize. Its festival circuit also included Hot Docs, Full Frame, Human Rights Watch, and several Jewish film festivals, including Boston, San Francisco, and Atlanta, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
