Festival:
The 19th Documentary Fortnight
Dates:
February 5-19
About:
This year’s edition of MoMA’s annual nonfiction showcase presents more than 30 new and recent features, hybrids, shorts, VR, and performances. Continue reading
Category Archives: Documentary
Documentary Fortnight 2020 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 4:
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER
Director:
Beniamino Barrese
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Cartagena, DokuFest, Docs Against Gravity, Transilvania, Shanghai, Munich, Biografilm, MakeDox, Taipei, Frameline
About:
The filmmaker films his mother as she plans to leave the modern world behind.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On TV: MCMILLION$
MCMILLION$ | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeff Dolen
MCMILLION$
Directors:
James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
About:
A look back at a stranger-than-fiction true crime tale of fast food and fraud.
My pre-Sundance profile of the docuseries may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On TV: COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 3:
COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE
Director:
Judith Helfand
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Woods Hole, EarthxFilm, Sarasota, environmental fests in Washington DC, Yale, and Princeton
About:
An investigation of the victims and profiteers in extreme weather catastrophes.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
2020 Sundance Awards
The winners of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival were announced at an awards ceremony this past Saturday night, which also included the public reveal of Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program head Tabitha Jackson as the festival’s new Festival Director, replacing longtime head John Cooper. The 2020 ceremony may be viewed in full here. A list of the awards follows: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Special Note: w(n)td & 2020 Sundance
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival begins tonight, Thursday, January 23, and runs through Sunday, February 2. w(n)td will be on hiatus for the duration while I’m busy with my responsibilities as a Programming Associate for the festival. Regular daily weekday posting will resume on Monday, February 3.
To catch up with Sundance doc programming, here are links to my series of 2020 Sundance documentary profiles, divided by festival section:
US Documentary Competition
BE WATER | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
BOYS STATE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Thorsten Thielow
CODED BIAS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
THE COST OF SILENCE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by John Wathan
CRIP CAMP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Steve Honigsbaum
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by John Wakayama Carey
FEELS GOOD MAN | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Kurt Keppeler and Christian Bruno
THE FIGHT | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Sean McGing
MUCHO MUCHO AMOR | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Giovan Cordero
SPACESHIP EARTH | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Phillipe Plailly Science Photo Library
A THOUSAND CUTS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
TIME | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
US KIDS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
WELCOME TO CHECHNYA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
WHIRLYBIRD | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Los Angeles News Service
World Cinema Documentary Competition
ACASA, MY HOME | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mircea Topoleanu
THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
EPICENTRO | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Hubert Sauper
INFLUENCE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mark Bugyra
INTO THE DEEP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
THE MOLE AGENT | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Alvaro Reyes
ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by John Marquez
THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Benjamin Ree
THE REASON I JUMP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jerry Rothwell
SAUDI RUNAWAY | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
SOFTIE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Sam Soko
THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Documentary Premieres
AGGIE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
ASSASSINS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
DISCLOSURE: TRANS LIVES ON SCREEN | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
THE DISSIDENT | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jamal Khashoggi
GIVING VOICE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jonathon Narducci
THE GO-GO’S | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lynn Goldsmith
HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY: THE REN & STIMPY STORY | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Chris Gore
MISS AMERICANA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
OKAVANGO: RIVER OF DREAMS (DIRECTOR’S CUT) | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Beverly Joubert
ON THE RECORD | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Martyna Starosta
REBUILDING PARADISE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Noah Berger
THE SOCIAL DILEMMA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
VIVOS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Ai Weiwei
Next
SOME KIND OF HEAVEN | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Bolen
New Frontier
BLKNWS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
MAŁNI – TOWARD THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Spotlight
COLLECTIVE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Special Events
HILLARY | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
LANCE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Nick Higgins
LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
LOVE FRAUD | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Alex Takats
MAX RICHTER’S SLEEP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Rahi Rezvani
MCMILLION$ | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeff Dolen
SIEMPRE, LUIS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Carlos Garciade Dios
THE TRADE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Ross McDonnell
WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Bryant Fisher
Indie Episodic
CITY SO REAL | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Steve James
UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jonathan Kovel
From the Collection
BORN INTO BROTHELS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On VOD: MISS AMERICANA
MISS AMERICANA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
MISS AMERICANA
Director:
Lana Wilson
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
About:
A revealing look at acclaimed pop star Taylor Swift.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: BORN INTO BROTHELS
BORN INTO BROTHELS | Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman capture several children of prostitutes living in Calcutta as they learn photography.
Festival Section:
From the Collection
Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On TV: THE POISON SQUAD
Coming to PBS’s American Experience next Tuesday, January 28:
THE POISON SQUAD
Director:
John Maggio
World Premiere:
American Experience (February 2020)
About:
A government chemist goes on a crusade to eliminate untested chemicals from American foods.
In the late 1800s, as the population of American cities grew as people left farms for factory jobs, food manufacturers turned to new chemicals to preserve food for longer periods to face this societal shift. This meant that substances like formaldehyde, borax, salicylic acid, and copper sulfate became prevalent in American diets, threatening the health of the nation. US Department of Agriculture chemist Harvey Wiley had grave concerns about these unregulated, untested chemicals and launched a very public campaign to bring attention to his fears. He recruited a dozen anonymous men to participate in hygienic table trials – dubbed the Poison Squad by the press – in which Wiley would systematically increasingly poison their food over the course of a year to test the effects of additives. Director John Maggio’s informative film, which follows in the standard PBS format, is less about the Poison Squad than it is about Wiley, and how his efforts, combined with public outrage over Upton Sinclair’s THE JUNGLE, resulted in legislation to better monitor food, including the formation of the FDA,
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE
UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jonathan Kovel
David Shapiro revisits a long-unfinished project to make sense of the passing of his friend and collaborator.
Festival Section:
Indie Episodic
Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
