Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to Pivot as part of International Day of the Girl tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11: DRIVING WITH SELVI

Elisa Paloschi’s portrait of an Indian woman’s dreams of independence made its debut at Raindance last year. Screenings followed at IDFA, Hot Springs Doc, United Nations Association, Mumbai, Margaret Mead, Thessaloniki Doc, Movies That Matter, Documentary Edge, and Bentonville, among other events.

Selvi was essentially sold by her brother into marriage as a child and suffered abuse at the hands of her older husband, who forced her into prostitution. She eventually escaped, finding her way to a group home where she learned how to drive. Eventually, she parlays this skill into a career, becoming the first female taxi driver in southern India. Paloschi follows the appealing Selvi for the better part of a decade, as she turns her life around, supports herself, and finds happiness. While there’s some roughness technically, given the longitudinal approach taken, the film successfully captures a sense of unexpected but genuine hopefulness in the face of grim reality and a traumatic past.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11: THE MISSING INGREDIENT

Michael Sparaga’s look at a restaurant’s attempts to find success had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. Its festival circuit has included Santa Barbara, RiverRun, Newport, and Feast, among others. In addition to its DVD release, it now comes to VOD platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Vimeo on Demand, and Google Play.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
A story of two Manhattan restaurants: Gino’s, an Upper East Side fixture for more than six decades, and Pescatore, a Midtown staple on Second Ave since 1993 now facing stiff competition as the neighborhood changes. After taking over Pescatore, new restaurateur Charles Devigne seeks to shake up things in a bid for new business. His controversial decision to borrow one of Gino’s iconic features inspires Michael Sparaga’s exploration of that undefinable quality which transforms a simple eatery into an institution.

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, October 10: FROM THIS DAY FORWARD

Sharon Shattuck’s portrait of her transgender father had its premiere at Full Frame last year. It also screened at DOC NYC, AFI Docs, Hot Docs, Framline, Outfest, Camden, Traverse City, and several LGBT fests around the country.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Doc World this Sunday, October 9: KISMET

Nina Maria Paschalidou’s look at fans of Turkish soap operas debuted at IDFA in 2013. Screenings followed at Sarajevo, Thessaloniki Doc, One World, Planete Doc, Margaret Mead, and Tempo Doc, among other events.

Noting the widespread popularity of Turkish soaps not only domestically, but across the Middle East, the Balkans, and North Africa, Paschalidou profiles the unexpected sociocultural influence they have wielded on their fans. Despite hewing closely to the often melodramatic conventions of the genre, with no shortage of romance, sex, and violence, serials like NOOR and FATMAGUL have attracted a fanbase among the devoutly religious, Muslim and Christian alike. Rather than being shocked by the taboos they witness onscreen, these women instead have found models by which they can examine their own lives, and, in several cases noted here, demand change. Witnessing heroines confront rape, seek divorce, or protest honor killings, viewers have followed suit to demand justice and more equitable treatment. Paschalidou ably demonstrates the real-world consequences of what is typically dismissed as throwaway entertainment, prompting a re-examination of the genre much like 1930s-’40s “women’s films” have been reassessed as subversive commentary on gender roles.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 7: 13TH

Ava DuVernay’s wide-ranging examination of the systematic criminalization of African Americans made its world premiere last week as the first-ever documentary to open the New York Film Festival. It now comes to VOD exclusively through Netflix, along with a limited theatrical release. It will also screen at DOC NYC next month as part of the Short List section of anticipated awards contenders.

DuVernay’s incendiary film grounds its analysis through a hyper-focused consideration of the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery but for a critical exception – “except as a punishment for crime.” With that loophole, former slaves – and their descendants, to this day – did not attain freedom, but instead were immediately rebranded as “criminals,” and American slavery merely transformed, rather than vanished. This comes as no major revelation to the bevy of talking head experts, many of them academics, that convey the film’s arguments, but will prove eye-opening to a wider audience, as they learn how, from the very beginning of emancipation, African-Americans were arrested in droves for minor offenses – often related to joblessness or poverty – and punished with forced labor, buoying up the Southern economy which was devastated by the loss of free labor that came with the abolition of slavery. DuVernay follows these historical developments through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, and the war on drugs, as, increasingly, politicians’ “tough on crime” stances became a veiled way to attack African-Americans, gaining favor with and reassuring white voters, while ultimately opening prison doors en masse to people of color. Where the film stumbles slightly is in its extended consideration of the impact of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on drafting or supporting legislation like “Stand Your Ground” that has further served to do damage to people of color while simultaneously providing a pipeline to fill member corporations’ for-profit prisons. While the information presented is important, it feels of a different piece with the rest of the film, and, perhaps, deserves its own, separate project. Regardless, DuVernay’s film emerges as a provocative, cogent, and timely analysis of systemic inequality in American, and one that should prove illuminating – if not downright transformative – for viewers.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 7: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

Tom Donahue’s look at veterans and mental health made its debut at DOC NYC last year. Its festival circuit has included Miami, Montclair, Big Sky Doc, Santa Barbara, GI Film Festival, Illuminate, and Maine, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.