Category Archives: Documentary

June 21, 2021 · 3:02 PM

AFI Docs 2021 Overview

Festival:
The 19th AFI Docs

Dates:
June 22-27

About:
This Washington DC event showcases approximately 30 new feature and episodic documentaries, presented in a hybrid format.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations

June 21, 2021 · 2:12 PM

On VOD: BE PRETTY AND SHUT UP!

Coming to MUBI today, Monday, June 21:
BE PRETTY AND SHUT UP!

Director:
Delphine Seyrig

World Premiere:
French theatrical release (March 1981)

About:
In 1975 Delphine Seyrig recorded interviews with twenty-four actresses in France and the US, including Maria Schneider, Jane Fonda, and Shirley MacLaine, about their experience across the industry, revealing the frustrations of working within the patriarchal studio system.

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June 21, 2021 · 1:31 PM

On TV: JACK & YAYA

Coming to The WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, June 22:
JACK & YAYA

Director:
Jennifer Bagley

World Premiere:
qFlix Philadelphia 2019

Select Festivals:
Inside Out, Seattle Translations, Hell’s Half Mile, BFI Flare

About:
A portrait of two transgender friends who have known each other since they were toddlers.

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June 21, 2021 · 12:01 PM

On TV: TWO GODS

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, June 21:
TWO GODS

Director:
Zeshawn Ali

World Premiere:
Full Frame 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, BlackStar, Montclair, Hot Docs, Camden

About:
A Black Muslim casket maker mentors two boys.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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June 18, 2021 · 3:02 PM

In Theatres: THE SPARKS BROTHERS

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 18:
THE SPARKS BROTHERS

Director:
Edgar Wright

World Premiere:
Sundance 2021

Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, IFF Boston, San Francisco Doc

About:
A tribute to the influential but overlooked band Sparks.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

June 18, 2021 · 2:12 PM

In Theatres: A CRIME ON THE BAYOU

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 18:
A CRIME ON THE BAYOU

Director:
Nancy Buirski

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2020

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, San Francisco Jewish, Big Sky Doc, Atlanta Jewish, Hamptons Docs

About:
An unjustly arrested Black man and his young Jewish attorney form a lifelong friendship.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Filmmaker Nancy Buirski tells the story of a lasting bond formed between an unjustly arrested Black man, Gary Duncan, and Richard Sobol, his young Jewish attorney. In 1966, 19-year-old Duncan faces the white supremacist court system in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, for daring to touch a white boy’s arm. Standing united, the pair takes Duncan’s case all the way to the US Supreme Court to fight for the rights of all Americans to a fair trial.

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June 18, 2021 · 1:31 PM

In Theatres: LFG

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 18:
LFG

Director:
Andrea Nix Fine, Sean Fine

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021

About:
An inside look at the US women’s national soccer league and their continuing fight for equal pay in an effort to create real change in women’s sports.