New to VOD this week:
FOR AHKEEM
Directors:
Jeremy S Levine and Landon Van Soest
Premiere:
Berlin 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Florida, Montclair, Documentary Edge, DOK.fest Munich, DMZ Docs, Message to Man, Milwaukee, Antenna
About:
An African-American teenage girl strives to graduate from high school.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD via Netflix this Friday, December 15:
WORMWOOD
Director:
Errol Morris
Premiere:
Telluride 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Venice, AFI Fest, Chicago
About:
A man spends decades trying to solve the mystery of his father’s death.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Errol Morris has been a constant innovator of nonfiction filmmaking. In his latest project, he pushes the boundaries further in a six-part investigation into the 1953 death of CIA agent Frank Olson. Did Olson, under the influence of LSD, jump from the window of a Manhattan hotel or was he thrown? Morris casts actor Peter Sarsgaard as Olson in re-enactments that punctuate documentary interviews and archival footage in this fascinating exploration of history, conspiracy, and the search for truth.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, December 13:
MISS KIET’S CHILDREN
Directors:
Peter Lataster and Petra Lataster-Czisch
Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, True/False, DOXA, Munich Dok.Fest, Thessaloniki Doc, Melbourne Doc, Goteborg, St Louis
About:
A portrait of a Dutch grade school class made up of refugee children.
The titular figure in Lataster and Lastaster-Czisch’s winning observational film is Kiet Engels, a teacher in a small Dutch village near the border with Belgium. Her charges, who call her Miss Kiet, are the children of migrants from the Middle East, largely Syria, and ranging in age from six to nine. Set almost entirely within Engels’ classroom, the film trains its attention on several young figures, including class clown Jorj, new girl little Leanne, and rebellious Haya, each coping with their traumatic past even as they try to make sense of their new surroundings and culture. Demonstrating patience, empathy, and insight, Miss Kiet helps them as she can, leading to affecting moments in this appealingly sweet, if quiet and somewhat longish, project.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, December 12:
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: TODRICK HALL
Director:
Katherine Fairfax Wright
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Seattle, Martha’s Vineyard, Baltimore Black, San Diego, Calgary Underground, Frameline, Outfest, Image+Nation, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Salt Lake City, Denver, Honolulu, North Carolina, Vancouver, Austin, Memphis, and Sydney
About:
A profile of the performer and YouTube sensation.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In the years since competing on AMERICAN IDOL, Todrick Hall has amassed a staggering following on YouTube, bringing his distinct voice and aesthetic to pop culture, and serving as an inclusive, inspirational figure to LGBT fans around the world. For his latest project, chronicled in Wright’s entertaining portrait, Hall challenges himself to complete 16 elaborate videos for an autobiographical high-concept musical, STRAIGHT OUTTA OZ, in just two weeks, and then immediately take the live show on the road to his devoted fans.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 12:
NALEDI: A BABY ELEPHANT’S TALE
Directors:
Ben Bowie and Geoff Luck
Premiere:
Seattle 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Virginia, Fairhope, Wildscreen, Ajyal Youth
About:
A baby elephant’s fight for survival underscores the need to protect the endangered species.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 12:
ARCHITECTS OF DENIAL
Director:
David Lee George
Premiere:
October 2017 (limited theatrical/VOD)
About:
A revisitation of the 1915 Armenian genocide and the legacy of its official denial over the past century.
An earnest if poorly executed project, George’s film aims to be a forceful call to action insisting on the official acknowledgement that the Ottoman Empire committed a genocidal act on more than a million Armenians in 1915. Turkey and its allies, including the US, have consistently refused to acknowledge the genocide, despite the existence of evidence both contemporaneously and that uncovered in more recent years, as well as the use of the term by the Pope and a growing number of other high profile individuals. This project assembles a parade of talking heads – most strangely and uncritically including Julian Assange – to review the historical record and to spin a conspiratorial view of Turkish influence on the US, an alarmist tale of impending violence in the region as a result, ill-thought-out guerrilla ambushes of politicians about their denialism, and attempts to draw direct lines between the Armenian genocide to the Nazi’s Final Solution and other examples of genocide over the past 100 years, all set to an incessant, irritating score and with the over-use of intertitles that make this feel like an amateur film. While there’s obviously merit to the idea that the genocide should be finally officially acknowledged, this clunky polemic is ill-suited to have much impact.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, December 11:
HAPPENING: A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION
Director:
James Redford
Premiere:
Mill Valley 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Woodstock
About:
A hands-on exploration of current efforts to use renewable energy sources.
Is it possible for America to meet its energy needs via renewable sources, or is our country fated to remain addicted to fossil fuels? Director James Redford sets out on a far-ranging quest to get a sense of what our progress is today for a sustainable tomorrow. Checking in with a diverse range of stakeholders, representing federal, corporate, entrepreneurial, and community efforts, the affable filmmaker offers an informative and hopeful look at the clean energy revolution already taking place.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 11th Cinema Vérité: Iran International Documentary Film Festival
Dates:
December 10-17
About:
This Tehran event offers more than 70 new and recent features, as well as retrospective and shorts programming. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 8:
I AM EVIDENCE
Directors:
Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Traverse City, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Hawaii, St Louis, UN Association, Globe Docs, Hamptons, Milwaukee,
About:
An alarming look at institutional failures in prosecuting sexual assault cases.
I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Produced by Mariska Hargitay (LAW AND ORDER: SVU), this eye-opening documentary investigates the alarming backlog of untested evidence kits that have denied justice to sexual assault survivors. Giving voice to four courageous women whose kits went untested for years, Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir’s film reveals deep-seated problems with the US criminal justice system that have resulted in perpetrators failing to be held accountable for their heinous crimes, and survivors being left in limbo.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
JANE
I’ve previously written about most of these and hope to cover the remainder before the final nominees are announced on January 23. For now, here is the official shortlist, with links to my previous coverage, where applicable:
EX LIBRIS: THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 