Coming to MUBI Friday, January 28:
FEELS GOOD MAN
Director:
Arthur Jones
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
True/False, SXSW, Big Sky Doc, Taipei, Fantasia, Sidewalk, Kyiv
About:
An exploration of the unpredictable development of an influential Internet meme.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres Thursday, January 27:
THE CONDUCTOR
Director:
Bernadette Wegenstein
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
Select Festivals:
SF Jewish, United Nations Association, Luneberg Doc, Global Peace
About:
Leonard Bernstein’s protégée Marin Alsop reveals how she smashed the glass ceiling to become an internationally renowned conductor.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD next Tuesday, January 25:
HAMTRAMCK, USA
Director:
Razi Jafri, Justin Feltman
World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, DOXA, Sarasota, St Louis, CAAMFest, Melbourne Doc, Virginia
About:
An election in America’s first majority Muslim city splits the community along ethnic lines.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Formerly a solid Polish Catholic town, Hamtramck MI is America’s first majority Muslim city. During one election cycle, popular incumbent Karen Majewski faces Muslim challenger Mohammed Hassan for mayor, and the typically harmonious, culturally commingling community begins to split along ethnic lines. Going behind the scenes of small-town politics to explore the beauty and challenges that come with multiculturalism, Razi Jafri and Justin Feltman’s film is a heartwarming reminder that civility and respect can coexist in our political races.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to OVID.tv Friday, January 28:
PRISM
Director:
Eléonore Yameogo, An van Dienderen, Rosine Mbakam
World Premiere:
New York 2021
About:
The lighting for movie cameras has always been calibrated for white skin; three filmmakers collectively explore the literal, theoretical, and philosophical dimensions of that reality in this discursive, playful, and profound work of nonfiction.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
PHOENIX RISING
Actress and activist Evan Rachel Wood takes her experience as a survivor of domestic violence to pursue justice, heal generational trauma, and reclaim her story in a culture that instinctively blames women. The film intimately charts her journey as she moves toward naming her infamous abuser for the first time.
Director:
Amy Berg
Producers:
Kirsten Sheridan, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
Festival Section:
Special Screenings
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
LAST FLIGHT HOME
An examination of Eli Timoner’s intentional death and his family’s emotional turmoil as they grapple with his decision to end his own life. The family journeys back through Eli’s remarkable, painful life to discover what true love looks like and help him shed shame he’s carried for forty years.
Director:
Ondi Timoner
Producers:
Ondi Timoner, David Turner
Festival Section:
Special Screenings
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
THE AMERICAN DREAM AND OTHER FAIRY TALES
Abigail Disney looks at America’s dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family’s story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold.
Directors/Producers:
Abigail E Disney, Kathleen Hughes
Producer:
Aideen Kane
Festival Section:
Special Screenings
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD Tuesday, January 25 and to OVID.tv Friday, January 28:
GORBACHEV. HEAVEN
Director:
Vitaly Mansky
World Premiere:
IDFA 2020
Select Festivals:
Visions du Réel, Docaviv, Dokufest, Tallinn Black Nights, Sofia, Hong Kong, BelDocs, Docs Against Gravity
About:
Gorbachev, the architect of glasnost and perestroika, but condemned by his own people, lives out the last days of his life in an empty house in the suburbs near Moscow.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to MUBI Tuesday, January 25:
THERE WILL BE NO MORE NIGHT
Director:
Eléonore Weber
World Premiere:
Indielisboa 2020
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Camden, Cinema du Reel, Jihlava, DOXA
About:
Footage from the frontlines of the French and American armies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, are explored with pilot Pierre V as he examines – and admits – his emotions. This cinematic experiment unveils the darker secrets of that which can be seen through the unique lens of the military viewfinder.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD via The Criterion Collection Tuesday, January 25:
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD
Director:
Kirsten Johnson
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, True/False, CPH:DOX, Doc10
About:
The filmmaker approaches her father’s mortality with inventiveness and dark humor.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 