Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to CNN this Sunday, November 12:
JEREMIAH TOWER: THE LAST MAGNIFICENT

Director:
Lydia Tenaglia

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
Hamptons, Mill Valley, Denver, Sedona

About:
A look at the life and career of one of the pioneers of New American Cuisine.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 10:
NO STONE UNTURNED

Director:
Alex Gibney

Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2017

Select Festivals:
London, Double Exposure, Cork

About:
An investigation into an unsolved 1994 murder in Northern Ireland.

In the waning years of the Troubles, masked gunmen entered a pub in the small village of Loughinisland, killed six Catholic men, and wounded several others who were watching the 1994 World Cup. Though promised swift justice, the survivors have remained without answers for over two decades, and no one was ever charged in the crime. Gibney revisits the cold case, in the process offering a review of the larger conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants that informs the massacre, sadly one of many. Here, it serves as something of a symbolic representation of the complex and comprised systems of justice in play during and after the Troubles, chiefly in its focus on the charge of collusion between Northern Ireland police and the Ulster Volunteer Force, a loyalist paramilitary group that is suspected as being behind the attack. In his thorough investigation, Gibney details suspicious police behavior, including destroying or misplacing evidence, and is able to track down information that enables him to identify suspects who, until now, were kept under wraps. While the larger significance of the crime may not fully be conveyed to non-Irish audiences, robbing the project of some sense of urgency and outrage, it’s clear through the participation of some of the survivors that Gibney’s investigation has at least brought a long hoped for closure.

New to DVD this week:
JULIAN SCHNABEL: A PRIVATE PORTRAIT

Director:
Pappi Corsicato

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Long Beach, Art & Design

About:
An affectionate profile of the maverick artist and filmmaker.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
NOT A WAR STORY

Director:
Tim O’Donnell

Premiere:
Academy of United States Veterans event, June 2017

Select Festivals:
Rhode Island, Portland

About:
A crew of veterans makes a zombie comedy film.

O’Donnell’s film goes behind the scenes to detail the making of RANGE 15, a project written, produced, directed, and largely starring veterans. Tired of stereotypical portrayals of wounded warriors, a group of vets set out to make a film they believed the military and veteran community would embrace. Their major problem: they’re amateur filmmakers, and have no luck in securing financing from traditional sources. Tackling the film like a military mission, they find workarounds, primarily by seeking help from within their own community. While the doc doesn’t quite find a balance between showing behind-the-scenes footage and showcasing the individual participants’ personalities, opting to instead largely serve as a promotional vehicle for the silly, over-the-top RANGE 15, it does succeed in offering a counternarrative to typical portrayals of veterans, and, notably, highlights both a refreshing embrace of dark humor and the camaraderie that helps military personnel survive in the field and back in civilian life.