Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Now in theatres, and opening in LA’s Laemmle Music Hall this Friday, June 15: CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY

Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf’s intimate portrait of the coming out of the first major country western musician had its world premiere at last year’s Los Angeles Film Festival just days before screening at Frameline – picking up best documentary feature awards at both. The film has won additional jury and audience awards since, including (fittingly) Nashville, Palm Springs, Seattle LGBT, Philadelphia Q Fest, and Atlanta’s Out on Film, among others. Fest appearances continue even as distributor First Run Features has begun rolling the film out in theatres beginning earlier this month.

Birleffi and Kopf followed the appealing Wright over three years as she finalizes her plans to come out publicly as a lesbian after sixteen years as a Nashville recording artist. Offering at the same time both the private and public sides of this pivotal moment – Wright’s video diary confessions of anxieties and insecurities weighed against the media training she receives to be able to discuss coming out on THE TODAY SHOW or OPRAH – the film achieves something quite a bit different from the typical coming out doc that’s well known to most LGBT film fans. While I confess to not having had a clue who Wright was before hearing about this film – country music is not my thing – I appreciated the unusual and delicate balancing act the subject has had to play between her celebrity and her authentic sexuality, especially in a genre that is largely synonymous with the conservative Bible Belt, and whose fans have already historically not taken too well to its stars going against the grain (ie The Dixie Chicks backlash). So while a cynical reading of the doc can view it as just another part of her carefully orchestrated public coming out process – which included a new album and a biography, beyond the TV interviews – it really is much more, and provides a rare point of access to the double-edged world of fame.

Coming to NYC’s MoMA for a one-week run beginning tomorrow, Thursday, June 14: EL VELADOR

Natalia Almada’s lyrical meditation on life and death premiered at New Directors/New Films last year. It’s had an extensive festival career, with screenings at Cannes, Los Angeles, Silverdocs, FIDM, Jihlava, and IDFA, among others.

I wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs here.

Now available on SnagFilms: THE NEW BLOOD

Ben Gonyo’s portrait of aspiring no-budget filmmakers premiered in its hometown of Rochester NY last year. In addition to appearing on Snag, the film made its broadcast premiere on the Documentary Channel in time for Halloween last year.

With echoes of Chris Smith’s AMERICAN MOVIE, Michael Paul Stephenson’s BEST WORST MOVIE, and the recent JOURNEY TO PLANET X, Gonyo’s film introduces audiences, whether they’re ready or not, to the world of Mike, Lou, and Lawrence, a trio of Rochester-based filmmaking wiseguys. Their basement-made – and frankly inept – horror films from Mike’s “Twilighted Side Productions” (with Mike attempting to introduce on-screen à la Rod Serling) have titles like RIDE TO THE MORGUE and THE DEADLY CAMPING GAME and have appeared on local public access channels – the filmmakers naively believing that this exposure will somehow allow them to break into Hollywood. Gonyo follows the men over two years, giving an all-too-clear sense of the trainwreck-fascinating appeal of their work while also allowing them to elaborate on why they think their unique talents belong in the mainstream. While the film is undeniably enjoyable and often very funny, it skirts a very fine line between bemused affection for its subjects and mockery, which may leave some viewers uneasy. Still, as far as documentary subjects go, Gonyo’s underdogs are people viewers will want to watch.

Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema for a one-week run beginning next Monday, June 11: TAHRIR: LIBERATION SQUARE

Stefano Savona’s immersive verité of the Egyptian uprising made its world premiere last year at Locarno. Additional circuit stops have included the New York Film Festival, Santa Barbara, Docpoint, Dubai, DocLisboa, and DOXA.

Premiering just six months after the massive protests in the now famous public square forced Egypt’s Mubarak out of power, Savona’s film reflects a guerrilla-style, on-the-ground perspective of a revolution in progress, with all the chaos and intensity that accompanies a world-changing event. Although some characters are loosely followed, the true power of the film comes from its ability to capture the masses and their collective action. Savona’s camera documents not only citizens gathered on the precipice of change, but also a complex swirl of emotions from a people finally able to speak out publicly and communally against a thirty-year-long regime – their fear, anticipation, confusion, anger, and, most importantly, hope, determination, and joy shine through.