Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Behind-the-scenes docs on the making of unseen films generally have an audience of none.
If you (or a friend or colleague) have made a film that has not been seen by anyone outside of cast/crew and maybe family/friends, your doc about the making of that film is most likely a non-starter – at least as a standalone project. It’s not something you probably should be submitting to festivals or broadcasters.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Coming to theatres this Friday, August 5: MAGIC TRIP
Last month, Magnolia released Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood’s Ken Kesey LSD doc On Demand. They’re now bringing the Sundance alum to theatres.
I profiled the film before its world premiere
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema (as part of a special Masterclass with director Steve James) this Thursday, August 4: AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR
Steve James partnered with his HOOP DREAMS cinematographer/producer, Peter Gilbert, to co-direct this portrait of prison chaplain Carroll Pickett. The film bowed at SXSW in 2008, picked up awards at fests including Full Frame, Atlanta, DOC NZ, and DocAviv, was shortlisted for the Oscars, and was broadcast by IFC.
The filmmakers use Pickett’s unusual career as the throughline for this poignant and careful meditation on the death penalty. As the death house chaplain for the Huntsville TX “Walls” prison unit, Pickett’s main responsibility for over a decade was to counsel inmates in the hours before they were executed by lethal injection. Unbeknownst to his family, he recorded his thoughts about each prisoner after each execution. These tapes, together with Pickett’s present-day interview, provide a deeply intimate perspective on dying, and on questions of punishment, guilt, and innocence. Threading in and out of Pickett’s recollections are the stories of specific prisoners who left a lasting impression – including Charles Brooks Jr, the first prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, and, most significantly, Carlos De Luna, the convict who Pickett became convinced was innocent, leading him later in life to become an anti-death penalty activist.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Opening at NYC’s Quad Cinema today, Friday, July 29 and opening at LA’s Laemmle Music Hall on August 5: THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA
Director U Roberto Romano, who has made other projects on child labor around the world, turns his camera on child exploitation in the US with this project about the children of migrant farm workers. Helping to generate media awareness for the film is its executive producer, actress Eva Longoria. The doc made its world premiere at IDFA last fall.
Twelve-year-old Zulema, 14-year-old Perla, and 16-year-old Victor are not like other American kids their age. As the children of migrant farm workers, they follow their parents, and their parents must go where there is work. But, beyond being subject to this nomadic existence, to help make ends meet, they join them in working upwards of twelve hours a day, every day of the week, picking crops – working illegally, and sacrificing their childhoods and their education in the process. Romano’s film effectively presents the realities of these children’s lives, and the cost they have to bear, continuing a cycle of poverty. Of the three subjects, Zulema is the most compelling – circumstances give her the potential to change her fortune and find stability. The other two characters are more static, standing out more as examples of other children in the same position, but not necessarily as fleshed out or compelling as Zulema, who could probably have sustained interest as a singular subject. Still, as a whole, the film succeeds in showing audiences some uncomfortable truths behind agricultural production in our own country, and the economic disparities that force many families to make difficult decisions about their own children.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
The massive annual celebration of comics and pop culture known as Comic-Con wrapped up this past weekend, but if you missed it or didn’t make it, revisit some of its atmosphere in my latest curated Hulu documentaries for indieWIRE. View all of these docs for free now!
For more information about the selections, see my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Museum of the Moving Image as part of its Errol Morris’ America series this weekend, July 30-31: FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL
After THE THIN BLUE LINE, Morris’ 1997 film on four eccentric visionaries may be his best known, making a topiary gardener, a robotics expert, a lion tamer, and a naked mole rat behavioralist into unlikely doc stars.
I’ve previously written about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Cinema Village tomorrow, Friday, July 29: SLEEP FURIOUSLY
Gideon Koppel elegaic portrait of a small Welsh community screened in Telluride, Edinburgh, Locarno, and Rome, among other festivals, and was recognized as Best First Film by the Guardian.
Koppel returns to his hometown of Trefeurig in Wales, a rural farming community, to turn his camera on its beautiful landscape and its residents, who are dealing with a town that seems to be literally disappearing. The impending closure of the school, aging of its populace, and moves toward modernization all signal that their traditional way of life may not be long for this world. But this is no explicit social issue documentary – Kopple’s approach is more contemplative and lyrical, with scene compositions and an overall approach reminiscent of recent films focused on place like 45365, DARWIN, or BOMBAY BEACH, while the community’s connection to farming and nature at times brings to mind SWEETGRASS or SUMMER PASTURE. Despite these cinematic cousins, Koppel’s film maintains its own unique and strange simplicity and beauty. While it may not be for all audiences, it will prove a rewarding experience for those who allow themselves to follow its rhythms.
Note: SLEEP FURIOUSLY and A SKETCHBOOK FOR THE LIBRARY VAN, Koppel’s hour-long preliminary study for the film, are both streaming free for 24 hours tomorrow online at Fandor.com.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO this Monday, August 1: KORAN BY HEART
The director of the acclaimed SERGIO, Greg Barker, premiered his look at an international Koran recitation contest at Tribeca. It makes its cable debut as part of the HBO Documentary Films Summer Series.
I wrote about the film out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Remember the key word “selects” in “scene selects” -put some thought into yr picks!
Like last week’s DDF, this one is aimed at helping filmmakers make the right first impression. In this case, rather than trailers, I’m focusing on what you should (and shouldn’t) provide when asked by a potential funder, broadcaster, or market to provide a sample of your work rather than an entire cut.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Friday, July 29: THE INTERRUPTERS
The Oscar-nominated Steve James premiered a longer version of this engrossing and inspirational look at violence prevention at this year’s Sundance before taking it to scores of festivals. It’s taken home jury or audience awards at Full Frame, Sheffield, Miami, Philadelphia, Minneapolis/St Paul, and Little Rock. Its IFC Center run will be followed by a one week run at NYC’s Maysles Cinema beginning August 5 (as part of a special Master Class with Steve James), as well as a two week run in Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center beginning August 12. After that it expands to more than two dozen additional cities.
My pre-Sundance preview of the film can be found here.
Note: Filmmakers and special guests will be in attendance at select screenings for Q&As.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
