Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 16:
SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Director:
Matt Schrader

Premiere:
Hamptons 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Hawaii, Santa Barbara, CPH:DOX, RiverRun, Dallas, Cleveland, Ashland, San Francisco, Nashville, deadCENTER

About:
An inside look at the art of the film score.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Music is an integral part of most films, adding emotion and nuance while often remaining invisible to audiences. Matt Schrader shines a spotlight on the overlooked craft of film composing, gathering many of the art form’s most influential practitioners, from Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to Quincy Jones and Randy Newman, to uncover their creative process. Tracing key developments in the evolution of music in film, and exploring some of cinema’s most iconic soundtracks, Sxchrader’s doc is an aural valentine for film lovers.

New to VOD this week:
TICKLING GIANTS

Director:
Sara Taksler

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
BFI London, Just for Laughs, Bergen, Vancouver, DocPoint, Glasgow, Big Sky Doc, Stockholm, Salem, Human Rights Watch London and Toronto, Movies That Matter, Cleveland

About:
A heart surgeon-turned-comedian tests the limits of free speech in post-Mubarak Egypt.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, June 13:
THREE SISTERS

Director:
Wang Bing

Premiere:
Venice 2012

Select Festivals:
Toronto, Dubai, Hong Kong, Busan, Montreal, Jerusalem, DOK.fest Munich, Edinburgh, New Zealand, Doclisboa, BAFICI, Taipei

About:
A portrait of a poor rural Chinese family, focused on three young sisters largely fending for themselves.

Over the course of two and a half hours of observational cinema, Wang empathetically reveals the lives of Yingying, ten; Zhenzhen, six; and Fenfen, four, a trio of sisters long ago abandoned by their mother and forced to work difficult chores in a small community that has yet to see the benefits of China’s expanding economy. While their father is initially in the picture, he eventually leaves for the city, taking his youngest daughters and leaving the sad Yingying to essentially take care of herself, with minimal supervision by her neighboring grandfather. Possessed of a nagging, disturbing cough, the young girl engenders audience sympathy, but an air of hopelessness permeates the proceedings, and her future.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 13:
HELL ON EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS

Directors:
Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Greenwich, Provincetown

About:
A comprehensive exploration of the conflict in Syria and the origins of the Islamic State.

I previously wrote about the doc here.