Director Pamela Yates is back at Sundance as part of the Documentary Premieres with her latest film, GRANITO, which looks at the genocide of the Mayan people, and how one of her previous documentaries has played a pivotal role in seeking justice.
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2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: GRANITO
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On DVD: SINS OF MY FATHER
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, January 18: SINS OF MY FATHER
My profile of Nicolas Entel’s Escobar documentary can be found here.
Buy the DVD here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
In the Works: THE BELIEVERS
Clayton Brown and Monica Long Ross previously made THE ATOM SMASHERS, about the Fermilab’s search for the Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle,” which screened on PBS’ Independent Lens. Their Chicago-based company, 137 Films, “promotes science literacy through story-telling,” and they’ve got quite a story to tell in their current production, THE BELIEVERS (formerly known as THE EXPERIMENT).
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: REAGAN
Documentary Premieres is also home to Sundance alumnus Eugene Jarecki, who brings REAGAN, his exploration of the controversial US President, and, most significantly, the mythmaking that’s grown around him since he left the Oval Office.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE INTERRUPTERS
The Documentary Premieres section is the perfect fit for acclaimed returning director Steve James and his newest film, THE INTERRUPTERS, a masterful look at what one organization is doing to bring an end to violence in a beleaguered Chicago.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: REBIRTH
Jim Whitaker’s multiyear portrait of emotional and physical rebuilding following 9/11, REBIRTH, screens in this year’s new Documentary Premieres section.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Special Screening: GREY GARDENS
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction next Wednesday, January 19: GREY GARDENS
Easily one of the best documentaries of all time, GREY GARDENS, directed Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer, premiered in 1975 at the New York Film Festival and went on to Cannes and Toronto the following year. In 2006, unused footage of Big and Little Edie was assembled into a follow-up film, THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS, while HBO aired a narrative version of the film, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, in 2009.
GREY GARDENS is a must-see for any documentary fan, and especially for those who love cinema verité. The filmmakers capture the Edith Bouvier Beale and her 56-year-old daughter Edie, close relatives of former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, at their dilapidated East Hampton mansion, dubbed Grey Gardens, whose better days were long ago. Like their home, the reclusive Beales are viewed by many as past their prime, dwelling in reminiscences of better days as they bicker and keep each other company. A fascinating and poignant film about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters, and how living in the past many times makes one unable to cope with the present.
If you’re in the NYC area, go to STF for a chance to see the film on the big screen, and for the post-screening Q&A with filmmakers Albert Maysles and Muffie Meyer. The previous night, the film will receive the inaugural Cinema Eye Honors Legacy Award.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD
Sundance alumna Liz Garbus is appropriately featured in Documentary Premieres with her newest film, BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD, a comprehensive examination of the renowned chess champion.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: THESE AMAZING SHADOWS
Next in Documentary Premieres is Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s THESE AMAZING SHADOWS, on the origins and preservation work of the National Film Registry.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus: BECOMING CHAZ
My doc-by-doc look at this year’s Sundance line-up shifts to the new Documentary Premieres section, an addition to the longstanding Premieres category, and featuring the work of established and accomplished documentarians or own bigger subjects. First up is the newest doc from multiple Sundance alumni Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, BECOMING CHAZ, following the former Chastity Bono’s path to his new public identity as a transgender man.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
