The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual showcase is on every New York cinephile’s calendar. The highly selective lineup stretches out over more than two weeks, spotlighting some of the best US and world cinema. While the festival has typically included some non-fiction, in a very welcome development this year, in addition to a few works in the accompanying Views from the Avant-Garde program and in the fest’s Main Slate, organizers have grouped an additional ten documentaries as “special presentations.” Following are the non-fiction projects I am most interested in screening:
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New York Film Festival 2011: Documentary Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On TV: CATCHING HELL
Coming to ESPN next Tuesday, September 27: CATCHING HELL
Alex Gibney brought his latest doc to Tribeca earlier this year for the fest’s ESPN Sports sidebar festival. An expansion of ESPN’s celebrated 30 FOR 30 series, the film, examining sports fan culture and scapegoating, now comes to the network.
I included the film in my wrap-up on Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Toronto 2011: Docs in Brief, Part Two
A previous post at the end of last week ran down the first half of this year’s Toronto docs I managed to see: INTO THE ABYSS, URBANIZED, THE PATRON SAINTS, DARK GIRLS, and ARIRANG.
The remaining titles include: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
On DVD: CIRCO
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 20: CIRCO
Aaron Schock’s look at Circo Mexico, a multi-generational circus family, premiered at Los Angeles las year, with additional stops on the festival circuit including, among others, True/False, Palm Springs, and the Hamptons, where it was awarded Best Documentary. It enjoyed a limited theatrical release this past Spring.
I previously wrote about the doc before its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
In Theatres: SOUND IT OUT
Opening at Brooklyn’s reRun Gastropub Theatre for one week beginning today, Friday, September 16: SOUND IT OUT
Appropriately enough, Jeanie Finlay premiered her impressive music-focused documentary at SXSW earlier this year. The filmmaker has taken the film, about the last record store in a small UK town, to notable fests since then, including Edinburgh, Sheffield, Doxa, deadCENTER, Silverdocs, and others.
I wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Toronto 2011: Docs in Brief, Part One
I returned from the Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday after just five nights, and while I didn’t see nearly as many of the fest’s 38 feature docs as I’d hoped to, I saw enough to fill a couple of posts here. I hope to see a few films I missed at the New York Film Festival, including PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY (since it will feature the new ending), CRAZY HORSE (I liked the hour I managed to see, though a conflict meant I couldn’t view the whole film), PINA (which I’ve now missed at multiple fests), and THIS IS NOT A FILM. Others, I hope to catch up at other events like DOC NYC, Stranger Than Fiction, or various other fests over the next several months, especially GIRL MODEL (I’ve seen many cuts, but never the final version), LAST CALL AT THE OASIS, THE ISLAND PRESIDENT, and PINK RIBBONS INC. That said, among the docs I viewed are: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
In Theatres: JANE’S JOURNEY
Opening at NYC’s IFC Center today, Friday, September 16 and in LA’s Laemmle Monica 4 next Friday, September 23: JANE’S JOURNEY
Lorenz Knauer’s portrait of Jane Goodall has screened at more than a dozen festivals around the world, including the Hamptons, Abu Dhabi, Palm Springs, Cleveland, and Edinburgh. In addition to a limited theatrical release beginning this week, the film will also be shown at select theatres natiionally on Tuesday, September 27 for a special one-night only event, “Jane Goodall Live!”
Goodall entered the public’s consciousness through her work as a primatologist, having begun field research on chimpanzees in the 1960s. In the mid-1980s, faced with the stark reality that humans had pretty much made a mess of the planet, she turned her efforts away from her beloved chimps to focus instead on broader environmental and humanitarian work. While accompanying Jane back to Tanzania for a visit with the animals that she helped demystify, and to provide pertinent biographical details, the bulk of Knauer’s film instead offers glimpses into the unrelenting schedule that Goodall keeps, traveling an average of 300 days a year in support of a variety of programs and causes. While the effect can be a bit cursory, what never lets the film down is Goodall herself – she projects a sense of tranquility and familiarity that envelops the camera, and the viewer, in a comfortable embrace. While the doc might tend toward the hagiographic, it would be hard to imagine anyone disliking this woman anyway, and the causes to which she has devoted herself are nothing if not laudable. If the goodwill her historic work with the chimpanzees has engendered leads audiences to learn about combating global poverty and climate change, more the better. Just don’t mistake her for Dian Fossey.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On TV: THE LEARNING
Coming to POV next Tuesday, September 20: THE LEARNING
Ramona Diaz followed up on her award-winning portrait of the deposed First Lady of the Philippines, IMELDA, with this look at four decidedly more down-to-earth Filipinas – teachers who leave their homeland to teach in Baltimore MD.
I wrote about the film out of Silverdocs this past June here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
In Theatres: CONNECTED
Coming to Northern California theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 16: CONNECTED
Tiffany Schlain premiered her documentary feature debut at Sundance this year. Since January, she’s taken her film – a declaration of interdependence – to other notable fests, including Cleveland, Nashville, Ashland, and Jerusalem.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be located here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
indieWIRE @ Hulu Docs: Toronto Inspired
I just spent the past week in Canada attending the Toronto International Film Festival. I’ll be posting brief thoughts on a number of the fest’s docs later this week, but, in the meantime, I decided to look to this year’s TIFF line-up for inspiration. This week’s indieWIRE-curated Hulu documentaries share some common topics or themes with the newest non-fiction offerings at the festival. View all of these docs for free now!
For more information about the selections, see my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
