Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 29: MISS SHARON JONES!

Barbara Kopple’s profile of a musician’s resilience debuted at Toronto last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Nantucket, Montclair, Dallas, Sarasota, Sydney, DocPoint, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, New Zealand, SXSW, IDFA, and AFI Docs, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple crafts a stirring portrait of soul singer Sharon Jones. Dubbed “the female James Brown,” Jones left a career as a correctional officer in her forties to find success with the R&B funk band The Dap-Kings. Just as the band is poised to launch a new album, Sharon is diagnosed with cancer, upending all of their plans. Kopple follows the singer over a tumultuous yet inspirational year of resilience and healing, culminating in an electrifying comeback show.

Coming to theatres this Friday, July 29: HOMO SAPIENS

Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s catalogue of ruin and reclamation debuted at Berlin earlier this year. Screenings followed at Cinéma du Réel, Honk Kong, BAFICI, Docville, DOK.fest Munich, Docs Against Gravity, and DocAviv, among other events.

Like his earlier work, Geyrhalter’s latest is a stunningly composed series of tableaux, focusing on sites that once were inhabited by the titular species but now are apparently abandoned, left to nature to reassert its dominance. Schools, hospitals, movie theatres, military bunkers, churches, office buildings, shopping malls, and amusement parks, apparently from all around the world – the film never identifies locations, and is absent any dialogue or commentary – are presented, showing signs of past use, but now in a decayed state. The effect on the viewer is mesmerizing and contemplative, affording space to consider the impact of mankind on the natural world, and, as if offering an opportunity of time travel to some post-apocalyptic era, what will likely remain when we’re gone.

Coming to theatres this Friday, July 29: CAN WE TAKE A JOKE?

Ted Balaker’s look at the impact of outrage culture on comedy had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. Screenings followed at Anthem, RiverRun, and Sarasota, among other events.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In the age of social media, outrage has become commonplace. While individuals have always found something to be offended by, their ability to organize a groundswell of opposition to – and public censure of – their offender has never been more powerful. Balaker’s timely film offers a thought-provoking and wry exploration of outrage culture through the lens of stand-up comedy, with notables like Gilbert Gottfried, Lisa Lampanelli, and Adam Carolla detailing its stifling impact on everyone’s free speech and the exchange of ideas.

Coming to NYC’s Film Forum tomorrow, Wednesday, July 27: HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL

Pieter van Huystee’s behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for a major art exhibition debuted at IDFA last Fall. Other fests have included Sydney, Moscow, DOK.fest Munich, Festival dei Popoli, and Docs Against Gravity.

In the lead up to 2016, the 500th anniversary of the death of Dutch medieval master Hieronymus Bosch, famously known for his macabre allegorical triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, the Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch plans for a special exhibition celebrating their native son. Van Huystee follows the institution’s art historians as they track down his two dozen surviving works in Madrid and Venice to attempt to negotiate their inclusion, study their potential secrets using modern technology that looks behind the surface of the paintings, and, vitally, try to ascertain whether certain pieces were, in fact, painted by Bosch rather than by one of his students or followers. Like other recent documentaries focused on the inner workings of museums, such as THE GREAT MUSEUM and THE NEW RIJKSMUSEUM, the director offers an intriguing look into the competing forces – and curatorial egos – at play in mounting such exhibitions, as well as the persistent questions of authenticity and attribution that haunt curators. At the same time, working with the distinctive, playful, and disturbing imagery of Bosch affords the film some additional color, as curators revel in the artist’s phantasmagorias, full of lovingly painted demons, owls, and other denizens of the night.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, July 26: HELP US FIND SUNTIL TRIPATHI

Neal Broffman’s look at the consequences of social media groupthink premiered at Atlanta last year. Screenings followed at Hot Docs, New Orleans, DMZ Docs, Brooklyn, Boston Asian American, St Louis, Denver, and Oxford, among other events. FilmBuff now releases the film on VOD platforms.

I previously wrote about the doc here.