Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres today, Friday, April 5:
REINVENTING ROSALEE

Director:
Lillian Glass

Premiere:
Los Angeles Jewish 2018

About:
A portrait of a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Rosalee Glass survived the Holocaust and a Siberian gulag to eventually have a family, and, in her later years, embrace life to the fullest, challenging herself to become an actress, travel, and participate in new activities, from boxing to senior beauty pageants. She’s an optimistic, ever-smiling figure, happily retelling her story for her daughter Lillian’s camera here. The result, unfortunately, is largely amateurish, from its old-fashioned and excessive narration to poor, home video quality footage, making it something of a headscratcher that this is being released commercially at all.

New to VOD this week:
V-CARD

Director:
Jamaal Green

Premiere:
Cinekink 2018

About:
A 23 year old virgin makes a film about virginity and his quest to lose his.

Dillon is a tall, larger guy who is still a virgin in his early 20s, and, as he or his friends explain more than once, takes on this film project as a way to make sense of his virginity, and, ideally, lose it. He sets off to interview pretty much anyone he can find about virginity: academics dealing with sexuality and gender, sex therapists, his parents, his friends, porn actors and actresses, comedians, and, recurringly, vox pops around NYC. Supplementing this are video diary entries, meta conversations about the film, and adventures in online-, app-, and speed dating. Though on the surface he is outgoing and able to engage the various women he interviews, Dillon has a defeatist attitude born from years of rejection, forcing him to change his attitude to find a solution to his issues. While Dillon seems like a nice guy – his performativity makes it hard to get a real sense of authenticity – he and his collaborators have made a clunky film. Beyond its weak production values and very familiar premise, the project suffers from a common crutch for novice documentarians: the meta film. Dillon spends an excessive amount of time explaining what the film is or discussing the film, making it feel tedious and far longer than it is.

New to VOD this week:
BARISTAS

Director:
Rock Baijnauth

Premiere:
VOD release (April 2019)

About:
Four national champion baristas prepare for the world championship in South Korea.

A thematic sequel to the filmmaker’s 2015 film, BARISTA, this sometimes overly slick doc trails four competitions who have already been named best barista of their own countries as they vie for world recognition. For the uninitiated, the film reviews competition rules, and then follows its subjects – from Japan, Ireland, Germany, and the US – as they develop their presentations and signature drinks in the lead up to the event, the more interesting aspect of this project. Once the action shifts over to Seoul, the competition itself is presented in a scattered, montage-driven manner, as some protagonists find themselves eliminated, and others make the final. While Baijnauth is able to convey his subjects’ personalities fairly well, and captures an appropriate hipster vibe as a whole, the film is somewhat underwhelming, and likely only of real interest for die-hard coffee aficionados.

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, April 3:
WALL

Director:
Cam Christiansen

Premiere:
Calgary 2017

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Edinburgh, Annecy

About:
An animated adaptation of David Hare’s play exploring the impact of Israel’s West Bank barrier.

Presented free to audiences in a one-week run at NYC’s Film Forum, Christiansen’s film will, of course, have resonance with American viewers due to the current presidential administration’s obsession with a border wall with Mexico. While that contentious project sits outside of the scope of Hare and Christiansen’s doc, another historical structure, the Berlin Wall, is invoked here, with its similarities and contrasts to the Israel/Palestine separation barrier pointed out during Hare’s meditation on mitigating conflict between the two nations. Reviewing the barrier’s origins in response to terrorist bombings within Israel, Hare notes its relative successes and failures – bombings down, but rocket attacks up – and seeks out the perspectives of individuals on both sides, literally. Christiansen provides audiences with an imaginative way to experience the wall and its various meanings, while also helping to break the project out of its theatrical origins – though there’s no fully escaping its staginess, given Hare’s monologuing.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, April 2:
¡LAS SANDINISTAS!

Director:
Jenny Murray

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
Lima, Southern Circuit, Maryland

About:
The female leaders of the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution look back at their unsung accomplishments.

I previously wrote about the doc here.