Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29: SONS OF PERDITION
Jennilyn Merten and Tyler Measom’s doc on exiled Latter Day Saints fundamentalists made its world premiere at Tribeca, screened at a number of notable fests, an had a limited theatrical release. It was also part of Oprah’s Documentary Club, premiering on OWN back in June.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29: BECOMING CHAZ
The prolific Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s in-depth portrait of Chastity Bono’s FTM transition to Chaz Bono premiered at Sundance this year. It became the first film in Oprah’s Documentary Club this past May.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
My Indiewire article on IDFA’s international co-production financing market, the FORUM, is now up here. Beyond spotlighting some notable new projects, it hopefully offers some useful information to filmmakers about the qualities of an effective and engaging pitch.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
A multifaceted exploration of a “beauty pageant with a difference.”
Using Western ideas as a vehicle to draw attention to the plight of his nation, a Tibetan promoter has run a beauty pageant for young Tibetan women for the past decade. Drawing participants from around the world to Dharamsala, the Miss Tibet Pageant aims to help the non-violent protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet by appealing to more populist and modern tastes – a tactic that has not escaped criticism. In their documentary, director/producer Norah Shapiro and producer Kelly Nathe explore the controversial event over its entire history, focusing on would-be Miss Tibets in three separate pageants. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
This week’s Indiewire-curated Hulu documentaries ties into Thanksgiving, with a focus on food. View all of these docs for free now!
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Call me crazy, but when I watch a doc, I don’t expect to see an overlong news segment.
While television in many cases can provide documentary filmmakers with a much larger audience than festival screenings and small theatrical releases, this doesn’t mean you should necessarily adopt the conventions of TV news reporting in the hopes of being more appealing to potential broadcast sales. Usually what’s appealing about documentaries on TV is that they are different from the standard TV news report or news magazine segment – the best of them employ different approaches to storytelling and character development, ones distinct from a typical news set-up that usually involves an onscreen host/interviewer, voice over and/or onscreen narration, sit-down interviews, and sometimes vox pops, and of course, for the nightly news, anchors providing intros and banter with reporters. Continue reading
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 29: CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
Werner Herzog brought his 3-D doc on the Chauvet caves to Telluride and Toronto last year. After numerous additional festival engagements, Sundance Selects released the film in the Spring to overwhelming audience support.
I wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Premiering on HBO this Wednesday, November 23: THE SOUND OF MUMBAI: A MUSICAL
Sarah McCarthy premiered this enjoyable and smartly realized portrait of performing slum kids at Toronto last year. It has since screened at notable fests like Miami and DOC NYC.
I included the film in my Toronto roundup last year here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22: THESE AMAZING SHADOWS
Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton premiered their doc on the National Film Registry at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Since then, it has screened at nearly two dozen additional festivals, picking up awards in Savannah and Louisville, and enjoyed theatrical engagements all over the country.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
The maker of the acclaimed documentaries A PLACE OF RAGE and WARRIOR MARKS turns her camera on the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE COLOR PURPLE.
British filmmaker Pratibha Parmar previously collaborated with Alice Walker on both the documentary and book versions of WARRIOR MARKS, which deals with female genital mutilation. For the present project, the two women rejoin as director and subject respectively, telling Walker’s story. At the same time, the project is conceived as not only a biography of the celebrated author/activist, but the story of race, class, gender, and social change in America during her lifetime. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
