Coming to PBS tonight, Friday, June 2:
THE AMERICAN EPIC SESSIONS
Director:
Bernard MacMahon
Premiere:
BFI London 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hawaii, Göteborg, IDFA
About:
A celebration of early music recording.
I profiled the program before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Friday, June 2:
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.
Anthony’s film serves as a contemplation not only of the infestation of the city by rats – checking in with rat killers patrolling the streets, presenting crude video game footage approximating a rat’s perspective of the city, and offering observations about scientific rat studies – but also expand beyond this to consider the “people problem” in Baltimore, linking historical urban planning that segregated based on race and economics with approaches to pest control. Taking a page out of mentor Werner Herzog’s playbook, Anthony presents these tangential but more-or-less connected threads via a detached narrator, keeping the viewer engaged with curious looks at crime-scene dioramas and strange virtual reality asides, alongside investigative journalism and history lessons. The result is an original project that works more often than it doesn’t, and which remains ever-intriguing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 2:
LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD
Directors:
Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl
Premiere:
Beirut 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, London, Haifa, IDFA, Cleveland, Montclair
About:
The story of Gertrude Bell, a British adventurer, spy, and diplomat known as “the female Lawrence of Arabia.”
A contemporary of the famed TE Lawrence, Bell is sadly far less known, yet she played a pivotal role in Western understanding of and involvement in the modern Middle East, particularly in the founding of Iraq after World War I. Oelbaum and Krayenbühl take an unorthodox approach in telling the iconoclast’s story, constraining their history to correspondence and diaries – Bell’s read by Tilda Swinton, while friends and associates’ words are recited on camera by actors in faux period talking heads. More conventional yet well-used and impactful is a wealth of fascinating archival footage of the Middle East, much of it beautifully tinted. Bell emerges as a fearless, influential figure – one ahead of her time, but whose dealings in the region offer a surprisingly modern resonance.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
PHOTO CREDIT: Rose Hartman / The Artists Company
Director:
Otis Mass
Premiere:
SXSW 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Bentonville, San Diego, Portland
About:
A portrait of the renowned pop culture photographer.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
A fixture of the NYC nightlife and fashion scenes for decades, photographer Rose Hartman has shot some of the most indelible images of pop culture, such as Bianca Jagger atop a white horse at Studio 54. Known for her ability to gain entrance into any social gathering, and possessed of an uncanny eye for candid shots, the brash, at times difficult, and always incomparable “Tasmanian Devil of photography” reveals a vibrant life in images.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD via Amazon Prime this Friday, June 2:
LONG STRANGE TRIP
Director:
Amir Bar-Lev
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
True/False, SXSW, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Full Frame,
About:
An epic history of the legendary Grateful Dead.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Festival:
The 19th Encounters Documentary Festival
Dates:
June 1-11
About:
Nearly 50 features are in the lineup of Africa’s largest nonfiction event, with screenings taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Thursday, June 1:
THE LOST ARCADE
Director:
Kurt Vincent
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, IFF Boston, Melbourne, Sidewalk
About:
A love letter to NYC’s Chinatown Fair.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres via Tugg starting this Thursday, June 1:
FINDING KIM
Director:
Aaron Bear
Premiere:
Seattle 2016
Select Festivals:
Nashville, Rhode Island, SF DocFest
About:
A Seattle FTM begins his transition at the age of 49.
For more than 40 year, Kim never felt comfortable, but only recently understood why: though biologically female, Kim was male. Nearing 50, Kim embarks on his transition to live fully as a man, and director Bear takes the viewer step-by-step through the process. Kim recounts long years of struggle, isolation, and confusion, while experts too-often interrupt with PSA-like insights. While Bear benefits from following an affable, likeable subject, there unfortunately really isn’t very much to distinguish this project from countless other transgender portraits over the years that have already addressed familiar topics, from preparing for surgeries and adjusting to hormonal changes to coming out as trans later in life amd navigating coming out at work or to potential romantic partners.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Festival:
The 16th SF DocFest
Dates:
May 31-June 15
About:
Approximately 50 features screen at this scrappy San Francisco nonfiction event presented by the SF IndieFest. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30:
BEHEMOTH
Director:
Zhao Liang
Premiere:
Venice 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, New Directors/New Films, Dubai, True/False, DocAviv, Moscow, Sheffield, Melbourne, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Istanbul
About:
A poetic meditation on the environmental impact of China’s rapid economic development.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 