Festival:
The 15th True/False Film Fest
Dates:
March 1-4
About:
Columbia MO’s crown jewel cultural event returns with more than 30 documentary features, a couple of narratives, some hybrids, secret screenings, retrospective presentations, game shows, and shorts. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 27:
SPETTACOLO
Directors:
Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Biografilm, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Melbourne, Cleveland, Dallas, Sarasota, Nashville, SF DocFest
About:
Italian villagers transform their lives into an annual play.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 3rd Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema
Dates:
February 28-March 4
About:
This annual showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema is co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Cinema Tropical and includes five docs among its fourteen feature slate. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 27:
QUEST
Director:
Jonathan Olshefski
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, New Directors/New Films, Cleveland, RiverRun, Nashville, Ashland, Hot Docs, Dallas, DOXA,
About:
A longitudinal portrait of an African-American family in North Philly.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD via Netflix today, Monday, February 26:
WINNIE
Director:
Pascale Lamche
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Encounters, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Doclisboa, Seattle, Sydney, Biografilm, Jerusalem, Melbourne, Vancouver, Warsaw
About:
A profile of polarizing South African political leader and activist Winnie Mandela.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, February 26:
RAT FILM
Director:
Theo Anthony
Premiere:
Locarno 2016
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, True/False, SXSW, Florida, Maryland, Art of the Real, Docaviv, Doclisboa, Vancouver, Mar del Plata, Torino
About:
A provocative essay about Baltimore’s rodents emerges as a simultaneous cultural anthropology of race and class.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, February 23:
EL MAR LA MAR
Directors:
Joshua Bonnetta and JP Sniadecki
Premiere:
Berlin 2017
Select Festivals:
New York, London, IDFA, Indielisboa, Dokfest Munich, Docaviv, Docs Against Gravity, AFI Docs, Camden, Chicago, Vienna, AFI Fest, San Francisco, Hong Kong
About:
An immersive exploration of life and death in a desert along the US/Mexico border.
Bonnetta and Sniadecki’s film draws the viewer into the Sonoran Desert, one of the most dangerous border crossing routes, and one sadly frequented by the most vulnerable, undocumented immigrants with the fewest resources or alternatives. Taking an experiential approach, the filmmakers convey the treacherous journey via offscreen testimony, never identifying individuals; an elaborate, unsettling sound design; and images of the scorched landscape and what travelers have left behind. While the project’s pace and poetic elements might limit its accessibility for some viewers, its stories of desperation, struggle, and death quietly yet hauntingly illuminate the continuing debate over border policies for those willing to listen.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 14th ZagrebDox
Dates:
February 25-March 4
About:
This Croatian event presents nearly 80 new feature documentaries in addition to retrospective programming. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Courtesy of XLrator Media
Director:
David Yuzuk
Premiere:
Rome GA Film Festival 2017
About:
A police officer investigates the mysterious life of a homeless veteran.
Several years ago, Miami police officer David Yuzuk met and befriended Richard Flaherty, a diminutive homeless man who eventually revealed that he was a Special Forces soldier involved in dangerous missions for the US government in Vietnam and beyond. Soon after Flaherty began to confide in Yuzuk, he was killed in a hit-and-run incident. Inspired to find the truth behind the late man’s stories, the amateur filmmaker contacts Flaherty’s family members, fellow veterans, and others from the community who had come to know him. In the process, he confirms many of his unlikely tales, including how he was allowed to enlist in the US military despite his small size and became a decorated Green Beret captain, and offers speculation on other, apparently still classified aspects of his career, such as Flaherty’s frequent international trips to dangerous locations during the time he was homeless, which the vet claimed were as a military consultant. Despite the tantalizing elements of his subject’s life story, Yuzuk unfortunately struggles to create an engaging film. Possessed of scant footage of his subject, he employs cheesy re-enactments, and is over-reliant on long-winded anecdotes and narration, all set to a distracting score, making this of limited appeal.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
AP Photo/Ernest K Bennett
Directors:
Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg
Premiere:
Pan African LA 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, St Louis, Toronto Black, March on Washington
About:
A revealing history of the battle for diversity study programs on college campuses.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
As students of color began arriving on college campuses in unprecedented numbers in the late 1960s, they found institutions ill-prepared to adapt to diversity. Unwilling to accept the absence of their unique cultures and histories, or to ignore prejudicial treatment, students mobilized for black and ethnic-studies programs, even taking up arms when necessary. Focusing on seminal struggles at San Francisco State and Cornell University, Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg’s film powerfully demonstrates this sadly still topical call for inclusivity in education.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 