Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 30: SARAH PALIN: YOU BETCHA!
Toronto played host to the world premiere of British doc bad boy Nick Broomfield’s search for the real Sarah Palin. Freestyle Releasing has picked up the film for theatrical release that begins in NY, LA, and SF tomorrow.
Earlier this month, I wrote about the film in my Toronto coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, October 4: BUCK
Cindy Meehl’s portrait of the real Horse Whisperer, Buck Brannaman, has inspired audiences and critics since its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year. It has claimed Audience Awards at Sundance and Full Frame, and had a successful theatrical run that began in the Summer.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
The Camden International Film Festival begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it. Hopefully next year. Despite its closeted name, Camden is a doc festival (C’mon Ben Fowlie! How about CamDocs?). Over four nights, the fest presents about forty programs, including thirty feature-length docs. In addition, over Friday and Saturday, the Points North Documentary Forum conference takes place, offering New England-based filmmakers access to key industry for professional development.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Details matter. There really shouldn’t be typos in your film. Especially not in your name or film title.
I know filmmaking, and especially documentary filmmaking, can be a very arduous process, taking years of your life with minor or little compensation for your time and energy. I also know that, sometimes, if you’re desperate to make a particular funding or submission deadline, you might cut some corners. After all, you might reason, if you’re not sending in your final cut, there’s time to change things later to clean up mistakes you might have made along the way.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, October 4: THE RED CHAPEL
Mads Brügger’s provocative and subversive comedic doc on North Korea finally comes to DVD after a successful festival and theatrical run. It premiered at Hot Docs in 2009 and came stateside to Sundance, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Award.
I previously offered my thoughts on the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27: THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA
U Roberto Romano, working with executive producer Eva Longoria, have made a mission of generating awareness of the continuing problem of child labor. Their film on the children of migrant farm workers premiered at IDFA last year and had a limited theatrical run this summer.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
A planned community built near “The Happiest Place on Earth” may be anything but, as smalltown traditional values face the realities of the recession and the dark side of the American Dream.
Founded in 1994, Celebration FL was planned and developed by the Walt Disney Company to be a utopian return to smalltown American life. Inspired by Walt Disney’s plans for a “Community of Tomorrow” – though decidedly different in approach and architecture from EPCOT – Disney took an active role in creating the mater planned community which today has a population of close to 7500 individuals – people who bought into the idea of translating the Disney experience into a literal way of life. Perhaps realizing that they were better off dealing with theme parks and movies, the company soon divested most of its interest in the town, but their stamp remains. While, on the surface, Celebration appears to be an idyllic places, a “bubble” that protects its residents from the harsher elements of larger, less-planned communities, cracks have started to appear. When filmmaker Philip B Swift started to see articles about the first murder in the town, he was motivated to start digging beneath the surface, and his discoveries motivated this project.
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Opening at Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center for one week beginning today, Friday, September 23: A GOOD MAN
Gordon Quinn and Bob Hercules brought their study of noted choreographer Bill T Jones’ working process to Full Frame for its world premiere, followed by additional stops on the festival circuit including Silverdocs, Woods Hole, and DOXA. Before appearing on American Masters later this fall, the film enjoys a theatrical release in production company Kartemquin Films’ own Chicago.
I wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to POV next Tuesday, September 27: LAST TRAIN HOME
Lixin Fan’s jaw-droppingly beautiful and affecting film about the mass migration of Chinese peasant workers premiered at IDFA in 2009, where it won Best Documentary, and went on to Sundance and a host of other festivals the following year. Following a limited theatrical run and DVD release, it now comes to PBS’ celebrated POV series.
I wrote about the film before its theatrical run here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: What is the meaning of your meaning of life doc? Why am I mostly wondering why I’m watching it?
Right off the bat, let me say you may just want to file this one away under my pet peeves, even moreso than most of the other DDFs I’ve written. If you have gotten satisfaction or something worthwhile from making or viewing docs on existential questions, more power to you. I have not, and I’ll briefly explain why here.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
