Category Archives: Documentary

January 14, 2019 · 12:46 PM

On TV: RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, January 14:
RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

Directors:
Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017

Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Big Sky Doc, Wild and Scenic, Oxford, Washington DC Environmental, Salem, Indie Grits, Freep, Sarasota, IFF Boston, RiverRun, Doc Edge, SF DocFest, Woods Hole, Sidewalk, DocUtah, Yale Environmental, Tallgrass, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A wide-ranging look at efforts to protect Louisiana from a giant swamp rat.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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January 14, 2019 · 12:01 PM

2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE GREAT HACK

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

THE GREAT HACK
Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim present a disturbing investigation into data and privacy in the modern digital age.

Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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January 11, 2019 · 3:02 PM

2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE BRINK

Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

THE BRINK
Alison Klayman follows Steve Bannon’s right-wing barnstorming efforts after his departure from the White House.

Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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January 11, 2019 · 2:12 PM

In Theatres: THE SILENCE OF OTHERS

Coming to theatres today, Friday, January 11:
THE SILENCE OF OTHERS

Directors:
Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

Premiere:
Berlin 2018

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Reyjkavik, Docs Against Gravity, Cairo, Hamptons, Mar del Plata, Los Angeles, Moscow

Notable Recognition:
The doc was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

About:
Victims and survivors of Franco’s brutal regime take to Argentine courts to seek justice.

The regime of Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco was marked by arrests, disappearances, and executions. After his passing in 1975, and the establishment of democracy, policies were put into practice to encourage forgetting the past in order for Spain to move forward. As a result, while political prisoners were freed, the perpetrators of torture and murder were granted amnesty – a decision that has remained controversial ever since. In recent years, as detailed in Carracedo and Bahar’s project, with no legal recourse within Spain, survivors turned to the idea of universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, and filed suit in Argentine courts against Spanish perpetrators. The doc profiles several of the parties to the suit as the wheels of justice very slowly turn. While affecting at times, this conventionally told film includes far too many subjects, robbing it of focus, and, as it details an ongoing, unresolved lawsuit, ultimately feels unfinished.

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January 11, 2019 · 1:31 PM

2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: ASK DR RUTH

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Paul Jacobson

ASK DR RUTH
Ryan White profiles the world-famous sex therapist and Holocaust survivor, Dr Ruth Westheimer.

Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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January 11, 2019 · 12:46 PM

On DVD: TRANSMILITARY

New to DVD this week:
TRANSMILITARY

Director:
Gabe Silverman

Co-Director:
Fiona Dawson

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Florida, Minneapolis-St Paul, Frameline, Outfest

About:
Four transgender members of the US military work to end the ban on their service, only to see Trump try to reinstate it.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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January 11, 2019 · 12:01 PM

2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Per Jarl

STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Henrik Georgsson details the dangerous life of the posthumously bestselling crime author.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Sweden
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January 11, 2019 · 11:15 AM

2019 Cinema Eye Honors Winners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 12th annual Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing achievements in non-fiction film from 2018, were celebrated at the Museum of the Moving Image at a ceremony last evening.

Below is the full list of winners announced at last night’s ceremony, which was hosted for the fourth (and theoretically final) year by documentarian Steve James. I once again served on the Nominations Committee for features. Congratulations to all the winners, nominees, and the hard-working Cinema Eye organizers.

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
Directed by RaMell Ross
Produced by Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, and RaMell Ross

Audience Choice Prize
FREE SOLO
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Bing Liu for MINDING THE GAP

Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Joshua Altman and Bing Liu for MINDING THE GAP

Outstanding Achievement in Production
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, and Shannon Dill for FREE SOLO

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, and Mikey Schaeffer for FREE SOLO

Outstanding Achievement in an Original Music Score
Ishai Adair for SHIRKERS

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
Lucas Celler and Sandi Tan for SHIRKERS

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
MINDING THE GAP

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
MY DEAD DAD’S PORNO TAPES
Directed by Charlie Tyrell

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Films Made for Broadcast
BALTIMORE RISING
Directed by Sonja Sohn, HBO

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series Made for Broadcast
AMERICA TO ME
Directed by Steve James, STARZ

Spotlight Award
THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS
Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont

Heterodox Award
AMERICAN ANIMALS
Directed by Bart Layton

Legacy Award
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Executive Producer Henry Hampton
Series Producer/Writer/Director Judith Vecchione, Series Producer Jon Else, Director/Writer/Producers Orlando Bagwell, Sheila Curran Bernard, Callie Crossley, James A. DeVinney, Madison D Lacy, Thomas Ott, Samuel D Pollard, Terry Kay Rockefeller, Jacqueline Shearer, and Paul Stekler

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January 10, 2019 · 3:02 PM

2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: SHOOTING THE MAFIA

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

SHOOTING THE MAFIA
Kim Longinotto profiles an acclaimed Sicilian photographer and her lifetime bravely bearing witness to the Mafia’s crimes.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Ireland/USA
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January 10, 2019 · 2:12 PM

In Theatres: THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, January 11:
THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS

Director:
Simon Lereng Wilmont

Premiere:
IDFA 2017

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, San Francisco, Reyjkavik, Göteborg, Hong Kong, DOK.fest Munich, Docaviv, It’s All True, Docs Against Gravity, Docpoint, !f Istanbul, Vilnius

Notable Recognition:
The doc was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

About:
A pre-teen boy lives near the border of the Ukraine/Russian war.

Lereng Wilmont crafts a dual portrait of war and of coming of age through this beautifully realized observational project. For three years, his camera intimately follows Oleg, beginning at the age of ten, as the orphaned boy lives in a small Ukrainian village with his grandmother. Situated close to the war zone, the sounds of war can be heard together with the titular canine calls. As Oleg grows up, his grandmother is less and less able to shield him from the realities of the conflict, including the presence of guns and other weapons of war, leading to a heartbreaking loss of innocence and a corresponding darkening of tone as this well-made film progresses.

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