Coming to the newly re-opened Film Forum today, Friday, April 2: THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS
Director: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
World Premiere: Sundance 2020
Select Festivals: DOC NYC, IDFA, Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, New York, San Sebastian, Zurich, Hamptons, Mill Valley, El Gouna, Aspen, Taipei Golden Horse, Thessaloniki Doc, Stockholm, Singapore
Notable Recognition: The doc has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
About: Enter the secretive world of the only people–and dogs–who are able to find the elusive white Alba truffle, the most expensive ingredient in the world.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Select Festivals: Full Frame, Nashville, Milwaukee, Virginia, Guanajuato, Mill Valley, BendFilm, Tallgrass, Portland, Sound Unseen
About: A portrait of the legendary TONIGHT SHOW bandleader.
Doc Severinsen entered the homes of American audiences nightly for three decades as the eccentrically-dressed bandleader of Johnny Carson’s TONIGHT SHOW. While the musician left the show upon the host’s retirement in 1992, he never stopped performing. Now, in his nineties, Severinsen maintains a grueling touring, performance, and teaching schedule, working out multiple times a week to maintain his health and strength. Filmmakers Kevin S Bright and Jeff Consiglio compose a loving tribute to the performer, exploring both his past and his present-day activities. While they address some heavier elements – notably the impact of Doc’s career on his personal life, including some infidelity – the filmmakers generally keep the proceedings fairly light and entertaining, resulting in a solid portrait with considerable nostalgic appeal.
Select Festivals: Docville, Docaviv, Nederlands, Docs Barcelona, Full Frame, Chicago, One World, Thessaloniki Doc, Washington DC Environmental, Beldocs, SF Green, Mountainfilm
About: A portrait of Bolivia’s only ski lift operator as he contemplates his future after climate change causes the permanent closure of the ski resort.
Samuel operated Chacaltaya’s ski lift like his father did before him, before the latter’s death years ago. He still manages the ski lodge, hosting small groups of tourists and making them tea, though he does not get paid anymore. Instead of skiing, tourists take in the views. Samuel and his wife contemplate what the future holds if he can no longer do his job. Meanwhile a small group of climate scientists record data in their lab near the ski resort, noting the rate of glacier melting, and worry about the seemingly irreversible temperature shift which may likely lead to drought in the region. Filmmaker Pieter Van Eecke takes a strictly observational approach and benefits from the photogenic scenery, but, as a whole, constructs a quiet, low-energy film that feels longer than it actually is.
About: This annual showcase from Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical goes online this year with a scaled-back lineup that includes only three doc features:
About: A violent instance of white supremacist police brutality serves as a spark to undo Jim Crow.
Sergeant Isaac Woodard served valiantly in WWII, but it was upon his return home that he would face grievous bodily harm that would cost him his eyesight. In 1946, after being honorably discharged from service and traveling home by bus to reunite with his wife, he was forcibly removed from the vehicle by police after an argument with the driver, beaten so severely with billy clubs that he suffered permanent damage to his vision, and arrested and fined for disturbing the peace. After the NAACP learned of the story, they enlisted the efforts of Orson Welles to create public awareness via his popular radio program, eventually succeeding against all odds to locate the perpetrator and to put him on trial. Though the trial ended in acquittal, Woodard’s story had unforeseen impact, awakening a moral mission in both US President Harry S Truman and federal Judge J Waties Waring that would see great strides in civil rights in the 1940s and ’50s, including, ultimately, the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v the Board of Education decision. Though named after Woodard’s case, Jamila Ephron’s film is really about Jim Crow in a much wider sense, and efforts to return the focus to Woodard feel strained at times. Still, the textbook PBS project is informative and sadly all too timely, as recent efforts demonstrate the continued attempts parts of the country have taken to undermine civil rights, particularly voting rights.
Select Festivals: DOC NYC, Big Sky Doc, St Louis, River’s Edge
About: Residents of a post-industrial town work to restore their community.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read: Youngstown, Ohio, once a booming steel and mining town, is now the epitome of post-industrial decline. Plunging population, derelict housing, and crime plague the city, but a new crop of industrious entrepreneurs and community activists refuse to accept defeat, nor will they abandon their beloved hometown. Together they rise up to restore homes, generate business, and ignite their community. Director Karla Murthy’s film is a powerful testament of their resiliency and ingenuity.
Coming to HBO and to HBO Max tomorrow, Saturday, March 27: TINA
Director: Dan Lindsay, TJ Martin
World Premiere: Berlin 2021
Select Festivals: Glasgow
About: On the life and career of iconic performer Tina Turner.
In 1981, Tina Turner first went public in the pages of People about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her partner, Ike Turner. In her view, she wanted to address the issue and then move on. Instead, the story in many ways grew to define her. She expanded on the tale in her 1986 autobiography – the basis for the Oscar-nominated WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT – again, with the hopes that, with her story out there, she would not have to revisit it again. As before, however, its importance only became greater, in many ways opening up a public dialogue about domestic violence on the largest possible stage. At the same time, even as Turner had persevered against all obstacles to become one of the most successful music acts in the world, she was constantly asked about this traumatic period in her past. It’s unavoidable, then, that her history with Ike takes up a significant portion of Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin’s expert portrait of the artist. Notably, however, the filmmakers move beyond the sensationalist interest of press junket interviewers to dig deeper, explicitly acknowledging and exploring the power of the story and its impact, positive and negative, on Tina Turner herself. It’s an essential part of the larger transformation of the artist from the Ike and Tina Turner Revue to the queen of rock ‘n’ roll, fulfilling her dream to be the first Black female rockstar to play to sold-out stadiums. From her home in Zurich at the age of 79, Turner speaks with refreshing candor, having retired from public life and in a fulfilling marriage – a rare happy ending that serves as a healing counterpoint to the suffering she experienced earlier in her life.
what (not) to doc 