Coming to POV next Thursday, February 23: RACING DREAMS
Marshall Curry’s doc on young go-kart racers won the Best Documentary Award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. It claimed further wins on the festival circuit, and also enjoyed a limited theatrical run.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD this Tuesday, February 21: THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS
Vadim Jendreyko’s portrait of a Russian translator premiered in 2009 at Visions du Réel, and went on to screen at various notable festivals in the past couple of years. The film had its US theatrical release this past Summer.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD this coming Tuesday, February 21: BLANK CITY
Celine Danhier first presented her film on NYC’s “No Wave Cinema” at a special work-in-progress screening at Tribeca in 2009. It officially premiered at Berlin the next year, and went on to play a number of notable festivals before its limited theatrical release this past Spring.
I wrote about the film prior to its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, February 14: THE SONS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
Tim Wolff’s exploration of the relationship between New Orleans’ gay community and Mardi Gras premiered at Frameline in 2010. First Run Features released the film theatrically this past Fall.
In the decades when gay men could not live openly and risked arrest and public censure if they congregated in bars, New Orleans’ many Mardi Gras parades provided temporary safe haven. The city’s homosexuals could don parade drag and celebrate semi-openly. Over time, as Wolff’s doc shows, these men banded together in “krewes” to organize what became a network of drag balls for the festivities, a practice that continued after gay liberation allowed for more openness. Using remarkable archival footage and interviews, the film paints a vivid picture of New Orleans’ past, while simultaneously displaying modern-day efforts to keep the tradition alive post-Katrina.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
My latest Indiewire-curated selections for Hulu documentaries takes a somewhat skewed look at Valentine’s Day. While some of the subjects of these docs look for and even find love, others tread a more difficult path. View all of the films now for free!
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 14: ELEVATE
Anne Buford’s doc on the life-changing possibilities of basketball for Senegalese players premiered at SXSW. Additional screenings followed at BAMcinemaFEST, Dallas, and elsewhere, as well as a limited theatrical release.
I included the film in my Dallas coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
If you’re based in the NYC area or planning on being in town this Thursday, February 16 at 6:00pm, I’m moderating a panel hosted by The Paley Center for Media together with The International Documentary Association.
The panel, “Meet the Filmmakers Nominated for the Academy Award, Documentary Short,” provides attendees the chance to see clips from the five nominees and hear from representatives of four of the films, as well as from the winner of the category last year. Beyond discussing their films, the filmmakers will also talk about the impact of the nomination, and the opportunities for short form non-fiction to be screened publicly.
Read more about the panel and participants here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Now in its eleventh year, the Documentary Fortnight is MoMA’s annual exhibition of recent non-fiction from around the world. Running February 16-28, the program aims to expand the consideration of what constitutes documentary in contemporary filmmaking and art, reflected in an eclectic and innovative line-up as well as two guided tours of Web-based interactive non-fiction storytelling. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Premiering on HBO tomorrow Tuesday, February 14: THE LOVING STORY
Nancy Buirski’s remarkable recounting of the precedent-setting story of interracial couple Richard and Mildred Loving made its premiere at Tribeca last year. It screened as the Centerpiece of Full Frame (the festival Buirski founded), won a screenplay award at Silverdocs, and screened at numerous other events, including the Hamptons, Traverse City, and Virginia, where the story is set. Fittingly, it makes its cable premiere both on Valentine’s Day and during Black History Month, and, happily, just days after a significant decision towards overturning another discriminatory marriage law, Prop 8.
I included the doc in my Tribeca roundup here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
The stranger-than-fiction story of a scandal-ridden film festival organizer is at the heart of a filmmaking duo’s investigative quest.
After Dan Nuxoll, the Program Director of NYC’s Rooftop Films, had some less-than-satisfying business dealings with the Queens International Film Festival, he partnered with documentary filmmaker Martha Shane (BI THE WAY) to find out what was going on. The result of their multi-year investigation: a portrait of that festival’s director, Marie Castaldo, a charismatic figure who somehow has managed to work within the film industry for more than twenty years despite numerous allegations of fraud and failed festival after failed festival plagued by unpaid bills and other woes. Constructed as an investigative thriller, Shane and Nuxoll’s film aims to peel back the layers of the enigma that is Marie Jocelyne Castaldo and uncover (if possible) the real person behind the cons. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
