Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, November 27:
63 UP

Director:
Michael Apted

World Premiere:
ITV (British TV, June 2019)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Telluride, Mill Valley, Vancouver, Heartland

About:
The latest installment of the longest-running documentary project in history.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
This longitudinal project started out by filming a group of seven-year-old British children representing a range of the country’s class system. Every seven years, director Michael Apted has returned to the same participants for a poignant inquiry into the arc of their lives, through births, deaths, marriages, and divorces – chronicling all their highs and lows. Apted, now in his late 70s, has suggested this ninth installment may be the last.

Coming to PBS tonight, Monday, November 25, and tomorrow, Tuesday, November 26:
COLLEGE BEHIND BARS

Director:
Lynn Novick

World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2019

Select Festivals:
Harlem Doc Fest

About:
A four-part chronicle of incarcerated individuals seeking higher eduction degrees while serving time.

In New York State, a number of correctional facilities have partnered with Bard College to offer a college education to inmates. The Bard Prisoner Initiative is a competitive program using the same educational standards employed at the Annandale-on-Hudson campus, and offers associate and bachelor’s degrees. Director Lynn Novick profiles several inmates enrolled in the program, both male and female, as they study everything from calculus and classical literature to Mandarin and debate, culminating in sizeable senior thesis projects. Over several years, the series explores the impact of BPI on these individuals, how they succeed and fail at navigating their dual existence as students and prisoners, and the freedom and opportunity for not only advancement but in some cases redemption afforded by their participation. The multi-hour format serves the project well, allowing Novick to explore the complexity of her subjects, including the crimes they have committed and in some cases the heartbreaking setbacks they face due to the vagaries and harshness of the prison environment. The series is also able to address – to a limited extent – the controversies around prison education programs, including the shortsighted elimination of federal funding under the Clinton administration due to complaints that felons should be punished rather than given a free education – a sentiment that persists and is even voiced by the mother of one of the participants – despite the clear linkage between rehabilitative programs like BPI and lower recidivism rates. As a whole, Novick’s series is an affecting, humanistic exploration of the power of hope and second chances to turn lives around.

Coming to Showtime tonight, Friday, November 22:
READY FOR WAR

Director:
Andrew Renzi

World Premiere:
Toronto 2019

Select Festivals:
Camden, Chicago, AFI Fest

About:
A profile of immigrants facing deportation despite having served in the US military.

Since the beginning of the republic, service in the US armed forces has provided a path towards citizenship for immigrants. In more recent years, however, rules have changed, and veterans have found themselves imprisoned and deported for committing non-violent offenses. Director Andrew Renzi focuses on three such men, providing a unique take on the immigration debate. Further complicating the situation, Renzi has uncovered the disturbing news that US vets deported to Mexico have been systematically targeted for coercive recruitment by drug cartels in order to exploit their military training. This is demonstrated by the experience of one of the subjects, identified here only as El Vet. While each subject admittedly has committed a crime, the question remains as to whether their punishment adequately takes into account the service they have provided to America, or if they are being scapegoated because of xenophobia and political opportunism. While there is support growing for their plight, and in some cases cause for hope, their situation remains dire on the whole, making Rezi’s film a useful tool to help draw attention to and humanize the larger polarizing debate around immigration.