Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 15:
THE HOTTEST AUGUST
Director:
Brett Story
World Premiere:
True/False 2019
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, BAMcinemaFest, Sheffield, DOXA, Montclair, DokuFest, Open City Doc, Sarasota, Maryland
About:
An exploration of climate change and late-stage capitalism.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD via OVID.tv tomorrow, Friday, November 15:
JAY MYSELF
Director:
Stephen Wilkes
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
deadCENTER, Newport Beach
About:
A renowned photographer prepares to leave his longtime home and studio.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
LOVE, ANTOSHA
Director:
Garret Price
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
Biografilm, Newport Beach, Kansas City, IFF Boston, SF Jewish
About:
A heartfelt portrait of the late Anton Yelchin.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc my be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to DVD/VOD this week:
LEONARD SOLOWAY’S BROADWAY
Director:
Jeff Wolk
World Premiere:
Cleveland 2019
Select Festivals:
NewFest, LGBT fests in Chicago, Dayton, Miami
About:
On the long career of the nonagenarian Broadway producer.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
AMÉRICA
Directors:
Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside
World Premiere:
True/False 2018
Select Festivals:
IDFA, CPH:DOX, Full Frame, Sheffield, AFI Docs, BAMcinemaFest, New Orleans, Denver, Camden, Guanajuato, DokuFest, Hot Springs Doc, Ashland, Maryland, Sidewalk, Reykjavik, Adelaide, Docs Against Gravity
About:
Three brothers take on the role of caretakers for their grandmother.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, November 12:
SCARED OF REVOLUTION
Director:
Daniel Krikke
World Premiere:
IDFA 2018
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Nederlands, Docs Against Gravity
About:
A frank portrait of Umar Bin Hassan of The Last Poets.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Photo Credit: Paul DeMaria/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images/SundanceTV
Directors:
Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
World Premiere:
SundanceTV (November 2019)
About:
An in-depth examination of the notorious 1986 murder of Jennifer Levin and the media circus that surrounded the case.
After the body of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin was discovered strangled to death in Central Park by a cyclist, the police quickly retraced her movements from the previous night to Dorian’s, a bar on the Upper East Side popular with the neighborhood’s elite youth. Witnesses saw Levin leaving with 19-year-old Robert Chambers. When police confronted Chambers, he had noticeable scratches, changed his story several times, and eventually concocted a preposterous story that Levin raped him and her death was in self-defense. Despite the ludicrous nature of his claims – Chambers was 6’5″, while Levin only 5’4″ and about 100 lbs lighter than him – the tabloids ate up his story, seduced by his all-American looks and well-heeled background (largely manufactured by his mother), and all-too-eager to blame the victim, who was painted as promiscuous and obsessed with Chambers. Over the course of their well-researched series, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg methodically lay out the specifics of the case as well as the parallel character assassination of Levin in the media, demonstrating the intersection of misogyny, classism, and the double standard applied to sexually-active women, obviously still unfortunately relevant today.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, November 12:
IF THE DANCER DANCES
Director:
Maia Wechsler
Premiere:
Dance on Camera 2018
Select Festivals:
Ashland, Raindance
About:
A leading choreographer restages one of Merce Cunningham’s iconic works.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD via Hulu today, Monday, November 11:
THE GIFT: THE JOURNEY OF JOHNNY CASH
Director:
Thom Zimny
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Telluride, Nashville, Belfast, Melbourne, New Zealand, Mill Valley
About:
An oral history of and tribute to the legendary country musician.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres for one-night only fan events nationwide tomorrow, Tuesday, November 12, then expanding to a limited release this Friday, November 15:
EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING
Directors:
Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Sidewalk, Minneapolis, Jihlava, Indie Memphis, In-Edit Barcelona
About:
On the life and death of emo-rapper Lil Peep.
Gustav Ahr started making and releasing music online from his bedroom in Long Island, eventually moving to Los Angeles and using the professional name Lil Peep, based on a nickname his mother gave him. He found wild, unexpected success with his work attracting followers on SoundCloud, leading to sold out shows on tour, modeling in Paris Fashion Week, and, just two weeks after his 21st birthday in 2017, an accidental overdose that claimed his life. Viewers over a certain age never will have heard of the performer, but, for his generation, he had a brief but significant impact. It’s primarily for this latter group that directors Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan have composed their elegy, in many ways presuming the audience already knows the subject intimately, which my be offputting for some. Still, even as they capture their subjects’ raw reckoning with their loved one’s loss, the filmmakers do attempt to trace how young Gus, struggling with depression and the impact of his parents’ divorce, made the transformation to Lil Peep, ill-prepared to handle immediate fame and the dangers that accompanied it, creating a somewhat accessible cautionary tale in the process.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 