With the 2011 Sundance Film Festival less than a month away, I’m going to begin offering brief looks at the feature-length documentaries in the line-up, a couple or more a day, until I’ve hopefully gone through them all before the festival begins, time permitting. These aren’t reviews – as a Documentary Programming Associate for the festival, of course I encourage you to see all of these films! The purpose of this series of posts is to present each of the docs in focus, provide some additional information and thoughts about why you should see them, and put them on your radar if you’re heading to Park City or to other festivals at which they will go on to screen. I’ll begin later today with BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY.
Author Archives: basiltsiokos
2011 Sundance Docs in Focus
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In the Works: HOW TO ACT BAD
As mentioned earlier this week, I’m going to try to write more often about documentaries currently in progress. Like MANHATTAN LULLABY, Dima Dubson’s HOW TO ACT BAD also has a Kickstarter campaign page – take a look. He’s aimed relatively high, trying to reach $20,000, and has about three weeks left to hit his target, so if you’re inclined to support the project, act soon.
I recently met with Dima to discuss his plans for his documentary, which follows bad boy musician Adam Green around his native New York, Los Angeles, and Europe. The film isn’t intended to be a musician-on-tour doc, however – instead, HOW TO ACT BAD seeks to provide a window into an artist’s creative process. Ideally, this will make the film work for viewers who have no idea who Green is (though more of a cult presence stateside, his star is on the rise in Europe, and particularly in Germany), mitigating the problem of many musician-focused docs that assume the audience will have the same knowledge of and fascination with the subject that the filmmaker has. With Green’s full participation, Dima has enviable, unfiltered access to his subject, which, judging from the trailer alone, is giving him a lot to work with in crafting this portrait. I’m very curious to see how the project ultimately takes shape.
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
In Theatres: THE RED CHAPEL
Opening in NYC next Wednesday, December 29: THE RED CHAPEL
I was fortunate to see Mads Brügger’s alternately hilarious and poignant film at its debut at Hot Docs last year, where its ethically questionable methods of exposing North Korean totalitarianism rubbed some of the audience members the wrong way. It continued playing the festival circuit with screenings at IDFA, Sundance, and New Directors/New Films, among others. At Sundance, the jury awarded the provocative project the World Cinema Documentary Prize. Lorber Films will be releasing the film just before the end of the year.
While I’ve complained on more than one occasion about filmmakers inserting themselves into their projects, THE RED CHAPEL is one case where this tactic pays off. Brügger manages to arrange for two South Korean-Danish comedians and himself to travel to North Korea, ostensibly to present a show professing cooperation between Denmark and the oppressive state. Instead, the three men plan to use humor and their documentary to infiltrate the closed society and to expose the repression faced by its people. Playing a dangerous game where a wrong move could lead to serious repercussions, Brügger is not prepared for one of the comedians to develop conflicted feelings about their mission, putting them all in jeopardy. Equal parts absurdist farce, political exposé, spy film, and even melodrama, THE RED CHAPEL is one of the most thought-provoking documentaries released this year.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases, Sundance
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Narration & Tone
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: You’re not a DJ/planetarium announcer- don’t tell me to “sit back, relax & enjoy” your film.
While I’ve addressed my general dislike for narration in a previous post, I recognize that it’s a creative choice that some filmmakers will continue to make if they feel it’s appropriate for their project. I still caution restraint, as excessive voiceover – like excessive anything – can be a distraction from the core of your film. The above DDF addresses another aspect of narration that irks me and is generally a terrible idea: utilizing a conversational tone.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
indieWIRE @ Hulu Docs: Past Favorites
With the end of the year scant days away, my latest selections for Hulu’s Documentaries page for indieWIRE takes a cue from all of the top ten/best of lists to present six of the most notable/celebrated docs available on the platform – a diverse bunch, but all have that don’t-miss factor. If you’re looking for something good to watch during the lazy holiday break, take a look.
For more information about the selections, take a look at my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
In the Works: MANHATTAN LULLABY
It’s been months since I’ve included a spotlight on a documentary in progress, and I figured this would be a good time to rectify that. I like to know about new projects in the pipeline, and I’ve found it useful to monitor sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo for interesting sounding documentaries that are seeking crowdfunding support.
One such project is by my friend Sara Alize Cross (Producer of Margaret Brown’s THE ORDER OF MYTHS, Associate Producer of Henry Alex Rubin & Dana Adam Shapiro’s MURDERBALL), who is producing and directing a documentary about NYC’s Colony Records entitled MANHATTAN LULLABY. Take a look at the project’s Kickstarter campaign page (and consider contributing if you can – she has about a month to raise a bit over $3000 at this writing).
Sara’s approaching the film as a history of not only the record store, but of the radical transformation of its Times Square location over its 60+ year history – while also addressing the changes to the music industry that have made standalone stores like it into rarities. I’m looking forward to seeing how the project continues to take shape, and how it can make use of its New York City locale and celebrity connections, but also go beyond that specificity to connect with broader audience with an interest in music, music history, and the struggles of small businesses in a recession economy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
On DVD: ONLY WHEN I DANCE
Available on DVD: ONLY WHEN I DANCE
After premiering at Tribeca last year, Beadie Finzi’s infectious portrait of two Brazilian dancers and their dreams went on screen at Edinburgh, Silverdocs, Vancouver and Sheffield, among other festivals. It was released in the US in the summer, and came to DVD earlier this month through Film Movement.
ONLY WHEN I DANCE focuses on two Afro-Brazilian dancers from Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished favelas, Isabela and Irlan, who compete not only against other aspiring ballet dancers, but against the perception that ballet is the domain of the white upper class. Following them over the course of one year through multiple competitions that can make their careers or send them back to the slums, Finzi documents the highs and lows of their challenging art form – Isabela struggles with weight issues and finances, while the promising Irlan pushes his artistic comfort zone in developing an ambitious new piece. Beautifully lensed and smartly constructed, this real-life BILLY ELLIOT captures the poetry of their movement and their drive to succeed against the odds.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Special Screening: THE TILLMAN STORY
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction this coming Monday, December 20: THE TILLMAN STORY
I’ve written about Amir Bar-Lev’s film, which debuted this year at Sundance, before its theatrical release in a previous post.
If you’re in the NYC area, you have another chance to see the film in a theatre at next week’s STF.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Sundance
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Bad Ideas
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Promising you’re going to have an amazing party is not the best way to get your film programmed.
Of course, this isn’t limited to just documentary filmmakers, but the doc film world does like its parties, so I’m comfortable with the association here.
This small bit of advice could have been part of my IFP blogposts to filmmakers regarding festival submissions (here and here). Chalk this one up as another bad idea. Sure, everyone likes a good party, but I don’t care if you’re going to have a monkey on a flying trapeze, the hottest go-go boys serving unlimited bacon donuts, or Justin Bieber performing in kd lang drag, you’d better have a good film first of all. Trying to bribe a festival programmer with the promise of excellent promotion when you don’t have a film that holds up is definitely putting the cart before the horse. Focus the energy you’re devoting on planning that party to crafting an engaging film – you can worry about the velvet rope and caterers later.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
In Theatres: THE SOUND OF INSECTS: RECORD OF A MUMMY
Opening in NYC next Wednesday, December 22: THE SOUND OF INSECTS: RECORD OF A MUMMY
Peter Liechti’s unusual, experimental documentary essay premiered at Rotterdam last year and has played a number of notable international festivals, including Hot Docs, Silverdocs, Karlovy Vary, Vancouver, CPH:DOX, SXSW, and Thessaloniki. It won the 2009 Best Documentary Award at the European Film Awards, and was acquired by Kino Lorber films for the US earlier this year.
An audio recording of Shimada Masahiko’s novella “How I Became a Mummy” inspired Liechti to make his film, telling the story of a man who committed suicide by starving himself in the woods over two months. Taking the man’s viewpoint, THE SOUND OF INSECTS visually focuses on his natural surroundings and the shelter he constructed for himself in his last days, while the audio is a haunting mixture of nature sounds and his diary entries. Based as it is on a fictional interpretation of a supposed true occurrence (Shimada Mashiko apparently saw an actual diary which inspired his story, but Liechti never did), it’s a film that some viewers might justifiably see as not strictly a work of non-fiction, or at least not entirely a work of non-fiction. At the same time, like other not-quite-documentaries, or questionable documentaries, the questions it raises about the documentary form, and about the role of “truth” in documentary filmmaker, make for fascinating consideration.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
