Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, July 15: FREE TO RUN

Pierre Morath’s look at the origins of modern-day running for sport debuted in Swiss theatres this past February. Festival berths have included BAFICI, Docs Against Gravity, Sydney, and the upcoming New Zealand fest, among others.

Morath pays tribute to running and to its relatively short history of popular acceptance in this broad and informative look at the sport. Returning to a time just five decades prior, the film considers street running in its relative infancy, viewed by the general public as a lark practiced by a handful of misfits. Even as advocates emerged, from the New York Road Runners Club which developed what eventually became the mammoth New York City Marathon, to the pioneering Swiss running magazine Spiridon, resistance continued – from governing athletics bodies to popular opinion which barred women from competing or set strict distance limits. Morath admirably tries to take on these and other wide ranging issues impacting the sport’s development – including rules preventing runners from being paid, the commercialization of the sport, the growing elitism of what should be an inherently populist activity, and the controversies around the post-Hurricane Sandy NYC Marathon – which inevitably results in some cursory treatment. Still, as a popular cultural history, the project generally succeeds more than it stumbles, offering a love letter to the sport for its adherents and a diverting bit of sports background for the more casual viewer.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 15: GARNET’S GOLD

Ed Perkins’ portrait of a man on a Quixotic quest debuted at Tribeca in 2014. Additional screenings have included Edinburgh, Biografilm, AmDocs, Documentary Edge, Docville, and South Africa’s Jozi festival, among other events.

Nearing 60 years old, Garnet Frost sadly reflects on a life that, in his estimation, hasn’t amounted to much. For the past two decades, he’s been haunted by a lost opportunity, at least in retrospect. While hiking in a remote part of Scotland, he lost his way and nearly lost his life. Just before he was rescued, Frost chanced upon a strange staff that he later determined was the marker for a cache of hidden treasure secreted there in 1746. Seeking a sense of worth – perhaps more figurative than literal, though both apply – the grizzled Frost assembles a small group of supporters, sheepishly borrows funds from his scene-stealing mother, and sets out to try to locate the lost treasure, based on little more than hazy memories of landmarks that might point him in the general direction. Surprisingly little time is spent on the actual treasure hunt – likely an admission that his protagonist has no chance of stumbling upon the same terrain he accidentally found twenty years prior – making this project more about a man at least finally reaching for a goal more than attaining it, which is well enough, though not without some meandering along the way. Still, Perkins’ film boasts such stunning cinematography which transports the viewer into the space of Garnet’s journey that these occasional excesses may be forgiven.

New to VOD this week: QUEEN MIMI

Yaniv Rokah’s portrait of a longterm homeless woman and her unlikely celebrity had its world premiere at Vail last year. Other screenings have included Sarasota, Haifa, Hot Springs Doc, San Francisco Doc, and the Bahamas.

For decades, Mimi Haist, now 90 years old, has been homeless, though the generosity of a Santa Monica laundromat owner has provided her with an unorthodox place to sleep each night, as well as an unofficial job. She’s a beloved fixture in the neighborhood, with her feisty attitude winning her ardent admirers over the years, including the occasional actor or actress. A friendship with comedian Zach Galifianakis, in particular, has been maintained since before his career blossomed, with Mimi accompanying him to red carpet events, and, ultimately, becoming the recipient of a more transformative gift. While Rokah delves a bit deeper into his subject’s history to try to ascertain how she ended up on the streets, this thread feels at odds with the lighter tone he uses up to this point – itself a somewhat odd choice given the serious topic of homelessness. The filmmaker is also too much of a presence in the film, lending it a rough and stretched thin feel, and suggesting the whole enterprise might have worked better in short form instead.