PLAYING WITH SHARKS
Sally Aitken pays tribute to a pioneering shark conservationist and underwater cinematographer.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Australia
Category Archives: Documentary
2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: PLAYING WITH SHARKS
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres/Virtual Release: ROCK CAMP: THE MOVIE
Coming to select theatres and to virtual cinemas today, Friday, January 15:
ROCK CAMP: THE MOVIE
Director:
Doug Blush
Co-Director:
Renee Barron
World Premiere:
Key West 2020
About:
Music fans sign up to rock out with their favorite performers.
Founded in 1996 by music producer David Fishof, Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp gives people the opportunity to live out their rockstar fantasies – for a price, though Doug Blush and Renee Barron’s film doesn’t explore this not insignificant detail nor how it impacts who is and isn’t able to participate. Leaving that aside, the film instead offers a crash course in the camp’s origins, profiles a handful of participants, and provides a sense of their experience at the camp, where a bevy of rock heavy hitters serve as camp counselors, including Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Nancy Wilson, Slash, Joe Perry, and Jeff Beck. Blush and Barron benefit from one thread involving the camp’s beneficial impact on a young man with autism, but otherwise keep things fairly surface level. Somewhat shambolic in structure, and unfortunately too often feeling overtly promotional, the project’s upbeat tone will nevertheless help it find a welcome audience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD
Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri reveal the lasting impact of fame and objectification on a young male actor.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Sweden
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres/Virtual Release: ACASA, MY HOME
Coming to select theatres and to virtual cinemas today, Friday, January 15:
ACASA, MY HOME
Director:
Radu Ciorniciuc
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Docaviv, DOK.fest Munich, Thessaloniki Doc, Doc Edge, One World, Moscow Doc, Sarajevo, Cartagena, Krakow, Transilvania, Zurich, Cologne, El Gouna
About:
A Roma family is forced to leave their self-sufficient life off the grid for the city.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
In Virtual Release: SOME KIND OF HEAVEN
Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, January 15:
SOME KIND OF HEAVEN
Director:
Lance Oppenheim
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Doc Fortnight, Visions du Reel, New Zealand, Florida, Atlanta, Philadelphia
About:
A profile of several residents of America’s largest retirement community.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
In Theatres & On VOD: MLK/FBI
Coming to select theatres and to VOD tomorrow, Friday, January 15:
MLK/FBI
Director:
Sam Pollard
World Premiere:
Toronto 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Chicago, IDFA
About:
An exposé of the FBI’s adversarial relationship to the Civil Rights leader.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Sam Pollard’s latest film performs the vital task of examining FBI director J Edgar Hoover’s relentless campaign of surveillance and harassment against Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, when King is celebrated across political spectrums as a moral hero, it’s jolting to confront the years when federal agents targeted him as a villain. Inspired by the work of historian David Garrow, the film uses recently declassified files to study the FBI’s motives and methods.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: MISHA AND THE WOLVES
MISHA AND THE WOLVES
Sam Hobkinson reveals the fascinating tale of a woman’s self-mythologizing Holocaust survival story.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
UK/Belgium
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2021 Sundance Docs in Focus: FLEE
FLEE
Jonas Poher Rasmussen tells the affecting story of a former refugee who must confront the traumas of his past to move forward with his life.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition (Day One film)
Country:
Denmark/France/Sweden/Norway
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On VOD: ASSASSINS
Coming to VOD this Friday, January 15:
ASSASSINS
Director:
Ryan White
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Zurich, Warsaw, Stockholm, Full Frame, Double Exposure, Hot Docs, Brisbane, Hawai’i
About:
An investigation of the bizarre story behind the brazen assassination of the half-brother of Kim Jong-un.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On VOD: SPACE DOGS
Coming to VOD via OVID.tv tomorrow, Thursday, January 14:
SPACE DOGS
Directors:
Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
World Premiere:
Locarno 2019
Select Festivals:
RIDM, DOK Leipzig, Torino, Tallinn Black Nights, Mar del Plata, Sao Paolo, Reykjavik, Vienna
About:
A meditation on the fate of the Soviet Union’s animal cosmonauts.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
