Category Archives: Documentary

On DVD/VOD: THE FABULOUS ALLAN CARR

New to DVD and VOD this week:
THE FABULOUS ALLAN CARR

Director:
Jeffrey Schwarz

Premiere:
Seattle 2018

Select Festivals:
Frameline, Outfest, Inside Out, QDoc, NewFest, Hot Springs Doc, Key West, LGBT fests in Boston, Melbourne, Atlanta, Palm Springs, Fresno, Durham, Dublin, Houston, Denver, Cleveland, and Halifax

About:
The story of the flamboyant entertainment impresario behind GREASE and CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC.

Though never a household name, for several decades, Allan Carr was the ultimate, if unlikely, Hollywood insider and power player. He demonstrated a savvy sense of marketing, responsible for Oscar campaigns for well-respected films like THE DEER HUNTER, while also serving as talent manager and producer, reaping the sizeable benefits of properties like GREASE, and even Broadway hits like LA CAGE AUX FOLLES until bad decisions, most notably the infamously poorly received 1989 Academy Awards ceremony he produced, led to a carer freefall. With both humor and respect, Schwarz and an assemblage of famed collaborators and admirers entertaingly recount how the eccentric, effeminate Carr got into the business, initially through theatre and later television, and how he parlayed success in these endeavors to conquer Hollywood, benefitting from a penchant for self-promotion and throwing outlandish parties.

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Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 25th anniversary Sheffield Doc/Fest

Dates:
June 7-12

About:
This British fest celebrates its quarter century edition with more than 100 new and recent feature documentaries. Continue reading

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On DVD: DEFINING HOPE

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 5:
DEFINING HOPE

Director:
Carolyn Jones

Premiere:
Heartland 2017

About:
A look at palliative care in America.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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Sydney 2018: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 65th Sydney Film Festival

Dates:
June 6-17

About:
This long-running Australian event includes just over 60 new documentary features. Continue reading

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On DVD: COACH JAKE

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5:
COACH JAKE

Director:
ian Phillips

Premiere:
Urbanworld 2017

Select Festivals:
Heartland, Bushwick, Yonkers, Reel Recovery

About:
A portrait of NYC’s winningest coach as he contemplates mortality and his legacy.

Martin Jacobson, known affectionately by his soccer players at Manhattan’s Martin Luther King Jr High School as Coach Jake, joined the troubled school in 1994. During his long tenure he has logged more wins than any other high school soccer coach in the city. As recounted in Phillips primarily congratulatory profile, he did so after beating a decade-long addiction to heroin which left him with hepatitis C, seemingly replacing one addiction for the thrill of winning. As the affable but imperfect septuagenarian hopes to bring his latest team to the championships, he reflects on the good and bad parts of his life – from mentoring his largely immigrant-background players to perhaps dropping the ball with his own kids – and how he keeps on going.

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Special Screening: LOVE MEANS ZERO

Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5:
LOVE MEANS ZERO

Director:
Jason Kohn

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Hamptons, Camden, Philadelphia

About:
A portrait of an infamous and influential tennis coach who has trained champions, at a personal price.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Nick Bollettieri ran America’s most famous tennis academy, producing multiple champions including several who would become fierce rivals: Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, and more. Was Bollettieri a genius or a tyrant, a father figure or a huckster? There are no simple answers. He’s been interviewed countless times and is always quick on his feet, ready for anything coming at him. But he meets his match in documentary maker Jason Kohn (Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury prize, MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)).

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In Theatres: NOSSA CHAPE

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 1:
NOSSA CHAPE

Directors:
Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist

Co-Director:
Julian Duque

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
Montclair, Kicking & Screening

About:
A Brazilian soccer club reckons with a devastating tragedy.

In 2016, the underdog Associação Chapecoense de Futebol was poised to put their small Brazilian city on the map, having experienced a record season and qualifying for the nation’s top-ranked division. But en route to Medellín, Colombia for an important match, their charter airplane crashed, killing 19 members of the team. With just three athletes surviving, and those with serious injuries, the club and its family members face an uncertain future. The Zimbalists and Duque follow their efforts to rebuild, bringing on a new coach who controversially wants to forge ahead, recruiting new players who don’t gel as well as the lost team, and following the physical and emotional aftermath of the survivors. Surviving athletes struggle through physical rehabilitation with the hope of playing again, as well as with survivor’s guilt, while family members seek compensation for the loss of their loved ones. While taking a fairly conventional approach to storytelling, the filmmakers are able to convey the deep sense of loss felt by the team and community, creating a welcome and impactful emotional resonance that lifts this above most standard sports docs.

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On VOD: WHITE BOY

New to VOD this week:
WHITE BOY

Director:
Shawn Rech

Premiere:
Freep 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC

About:
A portrait of an infamous and influential tennis coach who has trained champions, at a personal price.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Richard Wershe Jr, known as “White Boy Rick,” was a legend of Detroit’s drug world in the 1980s. As a white teenager alleged to be running an inner-city drug operation, he was irresistible to the media. Charged with a nonviolent juvenile offense in 1987, Wershe remains in prison at nearly 50 years old. Director Shawn Rech interviews gangsters, hit men, journalists, and federal agents who raise questions as to whether Wershe’s punishment fits his crimes in this compelling look at one man caught up in drug world legends and the criminal justice system.

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Encounters 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 20th anniversary Encounters Documentary Festival

Dates:
May 31-June 10

About:
Just over 30 nonfiction features are presented in Cape Town and Johannesburg during Africa’s largest documentary event, including several South African productions such as those noted below. Continue reading

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SF DocFest 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 17th SF DocFest

Dates:
May 31-June 14

About:
This San Francisco event presents just under 50 nonfiction features. Continue reading

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