Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 9:
ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE: TRUTH, DECEPTION, AND THE SPIRIT OF I F STONE
Director:
Fred Peabody
Premiere:
Toronto 2016
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Thessaloniki Doc, CPH:DOX
About:
A consideration of the work of independent journalists, through the lens of the pioneering I F Stone.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Q/A/F series tonight, Monday, May 8:
THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975
Director:
Göran Hugo Olsson
Premiere:
Sundance 2011
Select Festivals:
Berlin, New Directors/New Films, Full Frame, Miami, Hot Docs, Silverdocs
About:
The Black Power movement, as seen through the lens of Swedish journalists in the 1960s and ’70s.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, May 8:
THE PRISON IN TWELVE LANDSCAPES
Director:
Brett Story
Premiere:
True/False 2016
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Hot Docs, Art of the Real, Camden, Reykjavik, Ann Arbor, DOXA
About:
A reflection on the far-reaching impact of America’s mass incarceration epidemic.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, May 5:
JULIAN SCHNABEL: A PRIVATE PORTRAIT
Director:
Pappi Corsicato
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
About:
An affectionate profile of the maverick artist and filmmaker.
Corsicato’s film offers an archivally rich rundown of Julian Schnabel’s artistic and filmmaking career since the 1970s, detailing how he got his start as an artist, the significance of his collaboration with gallery owner Mary Boone, the resultant critical and financial acclaim, and his later turn to filmmaking. Interviews with Schnabel himself are supplemented by a chorus of admirers from family members to past collaborators and fellow art and film world luminaries, while a career retrospective serves as a further excuse to reflect on his work. Scant attention is paid to the controversies his work has attracted, resulting in a serviceable, but fairly one-note, portrait.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Netflix today, Friday, May 5:
THE MARS GENERATION
Director:
Michael Barnett
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
About:
A look at the would-be astronauts of the future.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Festival:
The 16th annual DOXA
Dates:
May 4-14
About:
Approximately 50 new and retrospective features screen at this Vancouver documentary festival. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 5:
SACRED
Director:
Thomas Lennon
Premiere:
Tokyo 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Sebastopol Doc, RiverRun, Cleveland, Ashland, Montclair
About:
A look at spirituality around the world.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Directed by Academy Award winner Thomas Lennon and shot around the globe by 40 teams of filmmakers, this expansive project immerses the viewer in an exploration of spirituality across cultures and religions. From a Buddhist monk’s 1000-day circumnavigation of a mountain in Japan and Hasidic Jews’ ecstatic celebrations in Uman, to Angola Prison inmates finding God and Malagasy turning of the bones to commemorate their dead, this breathtaking film is at once deeply personal yet universally human.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, May 3:
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
Director:
Feras Fayyad
Co-Director:
Steen Johannessen
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Full Frame, Sarasota, Movies That Matter, Istanbul, Nashville
About:
A chronicle the lives of Aleppo’s White Helmets, the city’s volunteer civil defense team.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, May 3:
MR CHIBBS
Director:
Jill Campbell
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2016
Select Festivals:
Miami, Atlanta, Sarasota, Montclair
About:
A portrait of life after professional basketball.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Ten years after retirement from a career as a professional athlete, Kenny Anderson finds that basketball is easy, it’s life that’s hard. Still reeling from his mother’s death, the former New York City high-school prodigy and NBA All-Star loses a cherished coaching position, sending him into a midlife crisis. Facing his personal demons head-on, the charismatic Anderson must come to terms with his past in order to find a way forward.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, May 2:
MEN IN THE ARENA
Director:
JR Biersmith
Premiere:
Heartland 2016
Select Festivals:
St Louis, Mexico International
About:
A portrait of two Somali professional soccer players.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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