Coming to VOD today, Friday, June 7:
THE RUSSIAN FIVE
Director:
Joshua Riehl
World Premiere:
Freep 2018
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Seattle, Montreal
About:
An exploration of the impact of several Russian players on an American hockey team in the 1980s-1990s.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 7:
THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES
Director:
Gene Graham
Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, AFI Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Montclair, IFF Boston
About:
An insider look at the African American exotic dancing scene of Newark NJ.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
LOOPERS: THE CADDIE’S LONG WALK
Director:
Jason Baffa
World Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2019
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Boulder, Newport Beach
About:
A celebration of the unsung heroes of golf.
In this inside-baseball approach to the world of golf, director Jason Baffa reviews the role of the caddy historically as it has changed to move beyond simply carrying a golfer’s clubs to serving as a partner, confidante, and game advisor. Several caddies are profiled, including individuals who went on to successful careers as golfers themselves or in other disciplines, such as narrator Bill Murray, a former caddy whose credits, of course, include the iconic comedy CADDYSHACK. Brief consideration is given around issue of race, gender, and class in the profession, and the talking heads, anecdote-oriented proceedings are livened up with some playful animation and archival footage. While suitable for sports programming in addition to its natural audience of golf fans, the doc is ultimately too niche to appeal to a broader viewership.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
THE RAFT
Director:
Marcus Lindeen
World Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2018
Select Festivals:
IDFA, London, Melbourne, Chicago, Doclisboa, Sao Paulo, Bergen, Antenna Doc, Dokufest, Haifa, Zurich, Athens, RiverRun
About:
A look back at an unusual social experiment from 1973.
In 1973, Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés launched a study that made international headlines, bringing together 11 diverse strangers to live in cramped quarters on a raft called the Acali on a voyage from the Canary Islands to Mexico over 100 days. The so-called Acali Experiment, though sounding like a prototypical REAL WORLD or BIG BROTHER reality television show, was intended as a scientific study to observe how individuals dealt with conflict, with Genovés on hand to push buttons, encourage sexual liaisons, and instigate quarrels. Coming at a time of women’s liberation and free love, the press was quick to dub the vessel “the sex raft,” but the reality, as revealed here through participants’ present-day recollections, archival footage, and Genovés’ journals, reveal a different story. The scientist’s approach took on dictatorial undertones, leading some participants to still harbor resentment for how he treated them. Lindeen skillfully creates a dialogue between the scientist, who died in 2013, and his surviving subjects, as they call into question Genovés’ “official” version of the proceedings while walking around a scale-model replica of their three-month home at sea. The result is a fascinating interrogation of his social experiment, presented in a compelling and creative manner.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 26th Sheffield Doc/Fest
Dates:
June 6-11
About:
This popular British event presents more than 100 new and recent features, organized into several thematic sections. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
GHOST FLEET
Directors:
Shannon Service, Jeffrey Waldron
World Premiere:
Telluride 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, Berlin, Doc Edge, Seattle, El Gouna, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Cleveland
About:
A harrowing look at slavery on the high seas.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
This suspenseful high-seas adventure follows a team of activists who rescue modern-day slaves in Thailand’s illegal fishing industry. Thai activist Patima Tungpuchayakul, nominated for the Nobel Prize for her work rescuing thousands of victims, tracks down escaped slaves who live like Robinson Crusoe on remote islands, helping to bring these long-vanished ghosts back to life and to their families.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Showtime this Friday, June 7:
XY CHELSEA
Director:
Tim Travers Hawkins
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sydney, Sheffield
About:
A portrait of whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Festival:
The 21st Encounters: South African International Documentary Festival
Dates:
June 6-16
About:
Approximately 30 nonfiction features screen in Cape Town and Johannesburg for Africa’s largest documentary event. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Courtesy of Cherry Grove Archives Collection
Director:
Michael Fisher
World Premiere:
BFI Flare 2018
Select Festivals:
NewFest, LGBT fests in Rochester, Long Island, Winston-Salem, Miami, Atlanta, Dublin, and Washington DC
About:
On the Fire Island community that has long been a safe haven for LGBT people.
Located just off Long Island, New York’s Fire Island is a regular LGBT Summer destination, and has been for decades, as is quickly established in Michael Fisher’s modest oral history, with its parade of talking heads interviewees noting what year they first came to the island. Ranging from pre-Stonewall days to just a few years ago, this group reflects on all manner of topics related to Fire Island, and, in particular, the community of Cherry Grove, from the supposed origins of the island’s name and its development as a gay mecca to its impact for LGBT individual’s self-expression before Stonewall, as well as the devastation wrought by the AIDS epidemic. With such a wide-ranging mandate, the film is unavoidably choppy and prone to nostalgic anecdotal recollections, which are sometimes hit or miss and often marred by an overly busy and distracting score, but the personal approach to subcultural history, and the snippets of archival material used, are worthwhile.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Wednesday, June 6:
THE COLD BLUE
Director:
Erik Nelson
Premiere:
AFI Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
New York, Traverse City
About:
A meditation on war composed of archival film of B-17 bombers shot by William Wyler.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 