Festival:
The 17th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Dates:
February 14-23
About:
Montana’s largest film event presents approximately 45 new and recent documentary features, as well as retrospective work, shorts, and panels. Continue reading
Category Archives: Documentary
Big Sky 2020 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD: THE PEARL BUTTON
New to OVID.tv last week: THE PEARL BUTTON
Director:
Patricio Guzmán
World Premiere:
Berlin 2015
Select Festivals:
Toronto, BAFICI, Biografilm, Sydney, Jerusalem, Melbourne, San Sebastian, Bergen, Vancouver, London, Yamagata
About:
A personal excavation of Chile’s dark legacy.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On VOD: BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS
New to OVID.tv last week:
BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS
Director:
Inka Achté
World Premiere:
Sheffield 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Bergen, Sao Paulo, Nordisk Panorama, Helsinki
About:
Indian men and boys seek to break the cycle of gendered violence.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In the aftermath of the infamous Delhi gang rape, one man works to change the way Indian boys view females. Harish and his nonprofit are devoted to educating impoverished male youth like Ved to respect women and girls. Despite the progress the activist makes in combating toxic masculinity, Harish struggles to find funding because his work is focused on males. Provoking and thoughtful, Inka Achté’s film is a tender tale of activism in the midst of a furious global discussion on gendered violence.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Neighboring Scenes 2020: Documentary Overview
Festival:
The 5th Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema
Dates:
February 14-18
About:
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical, this annual showcase of contemporary Latin America Cinema is split evenly between fiction and nonfiction work. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
On VOD: DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT
New to VOD this week:
DON’T BE A DICK ABOUT IT
Director:
Ben Mullinkosson
World Premiere:
IDFA 2018
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Göteborg, DocPoint Helsinki, Docs Against Gravity, Maryland, DocPoint Tallinn
About:
An affectionate portrait of a pair of bickering teenage brothers.
The duo at the center of Ben Mullinkosson’s unassuming but often very entertaining film are his cousins, Peter and Matthew, who he follows over the course of a summer vacation. Their ginger hair may be all the brothers have in common; Peter, on the autism spectrum, is outgoing, loud, and immature, while Matthew is quieter, awkward, and has an irrational fear of dogs. Obsessed with the reality competition show SURVIVOR, Peter generates frequent humor here as he “votes off” family members from his presence when they irritate him, something Matthew barely tolerates, generating universally familiar moments of sibling antagonism. Mullinkosson’s camera – often acknowledged by the boys – captures these and other mundane moments over the course of the slight, barely feature-length running time, and while the results may not be earth-shattering, they’re certainly both pleasurable and memorable.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Theatres: THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, February 12:
THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS
Director:
Patricio Guzmán
World Premiere:
Cannes 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Biografilm, San Sebastian, Busan, Chicago
About:
The continuation of the master documentarian’s exploration of Chile’s fraught history.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
An exploration of identity, history, and landscape by acclaimed Chilean director Patricio Guzmán. In his latest philosophical act of cinematic self-reflection, the Andean Cordillera mountain range becomes an ark where the most important poetic laws are stored, containing the ruins of the director’s childhood memories and the acts of police brutality and civil resistance that happened under Pinochet’s dictatorship. Spectacular aerial images bring us into the Cordillera and the troubled history it continues to witness.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 11:
MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND
Director:
Midge Costin
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Cannes, BFI London, Munich, Deauville, Sitges
About:
An exploration of the largely overlooked history and craft of film sound.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: ALI & CAVETT: THE TALE OF THE TAPES
Coming to HBO tonight, Tuesday, February 11:
ALI & CAVETT: THE TALE OF THE TAPES
Director:
Robert S Bader
World Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Milwaukee, Black Harvest
About:
Tracing the development of Muhammad Ali through his appearances on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW.
As an iconic figure of American popular culture, Muhammad Ali’s life, career, and impact have been well-covered in fiction and nonfiction books and films over the decades. In his directorial debut, Robert S Bader, working with longtime collaborator Dick Cavett, offers an intriguing and very specific lens through which to explore “The Greatest” – his longtime friendship with the talk show host, on whose program he appeared more than a dozen times. Utilizing Cavett’s reflections and very enjoyable clips from these freewheeling appearances, as well as interviews with Ali scholars and associates, Bader seeks to chronicle the highlights from the charismatic Ali’s storied life, from Olympic victory to converting to the Nation of Islam, conscientious objection to Vietnam and being barred from boxing. When hewing closely to the Cavett relationship, the film is at its most interesting, but, unfortunately, Bader too often breaks with this central premise, resulting in a retread of very familiar terrain absent the specificity of focus – while still, as a whole, worthwhile, it ends up being less than it could have been.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Special Screening: DESERT ONE
Coming to NYC’s Pure Nonfiction series tonight, Tuesday, February 11:
DESERT ONE
Director:
Barbara Kopple
World Premiere:
Toronto 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Double Exposure, Palm Springs
About:
An up-close look at the mission to free American hostages during the 1979 Iranian revolution
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Two-time Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple re-examines the story of Americans taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. Focusing on a rescue mission, the film plays like a thriller. Kopple draws upon never-before-heard audiotapes from inside the White House, as well as new interviews with hostages, rescuers, Iranians, and even President Carter, whose 1980 election loss to Ronald Reagan was greatly influenced by this decisive chapter of history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On TV: LEFTOVER WOMEN
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 10:
LEFTOVER WOMEN
Directors:
Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Göteborg, New Zealand, Atlantic, Palm Springs, Sydney, Hot Docs, Human Rights Watch London
About:
An exploration of the challenges faced by unmarried women in China.
The Chinese equivalent of “old maid,” the judgemental phrase “leftover women” refers to women over the age of 27 who have not yet married. With the gender balance off in the country due to its past one-child policy, femicide, and selective abortions of female embryos, women are strongly encouraged to marry early for the good of the country, often laying aside professional ambitions lest they be deemed selfish. Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia explore the familial, social, and state pressure on such women by profiling three subjects living in Beijing, ranging in age from 28-36 – attorney Qui Hau Mei, radio host Xu Min, and film professor Gai Qi. Taking an observational approach, the filmmakers follow these women as they wrestle with whether they want to get married or not, and include visits with matchmakers, attempts at online dating, government organized mass blind-dating events, and parent-led spouse shopping. In the process, the film capably demonstrates ingrained gender, class, and regional biases, and the central role parents themselves take in reinforcing these within Chinese society.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 