Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 21: KING GEORGES
Erika Frankel’s exploration of a culinary legacy debuted at Full Frame last year. Other fest berths included DOC NYC, IFF Boston, Seattle, AFI Docs, Traverse City, San Diego, Philadelphia, Denver, Napa Valley, Portland, and Big Sky.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21: THE HAND THAT FEEDS
Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick’s chronicle of undocumented workers organizing for better treatment debuted at Full Frame in 2014. Additional screenings followed at DOC NYC, Traverse City, AFI Docs, Woodstock, Sidewalk, Cleveland, Workers Unite, Boulder, and Latino fests in San Francisco, Chicago, and San Diego.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, June 20: SUITED
Jason Benjamin’s look at the impact of clothing on self-esteem bowed at Sundance this year. Additional screenings have included Hot Docs, BAMcinemaFest, Human Rights Watch, Sarasota, Frameline, and QDoc.
I wrote about the doc pre-Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, June 20: TRAPPED
Dawn Porter’s exploration of the bureaucratic war on abortion providers had its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, where it picked up a special jury prize. In addition to scores of community screenings, the doc has also appeared at SXSW, Miami, Athena, Martha’s Vineyard, Ashland, and Montclair, and has also been released theatrically.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD this Sunday, June 19: DADDY DON’T GO
Emily Abt and Andrew Osborne’s repudiation of the deadbeat dad stereotype had its world premiere at DOC NYC last Fall. It has gone on to screen at Cleveland, American Black, Santa Cruz, and Twin Cities Black fests, among other events. It makes its VOD debut exclusively on Vimeo on Demand, appropriately tied to Father’s Day.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
What lies at the root of America’s fatherhood crisis? Emily Abt’s documentary takes an intimate look at the struggles of four diverse, disadvantaged NYC fathers to beat the odds stacked against them and defy the deadbeat dad stereotype. Fighting against homelessness, unemployment, bureaucracy, and, in some cases, a criminal past, Alex, Nelson, Roy, and Omar want nothing more than to honor their responsibilities and provide for their children. The film offers a moving portrait of what it means to be a good father, despite life’s circumstances.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Bronx Documentary Center as part of their Sports Film Series tomorrow, Saturday, June 18: IN THE GAME
Maria Finitzo’s look at the struggles faced by a low-income students debuted at Madrid last year. Screenings also included Ashland, Documentary Edge, SXSWedu, Minneapolis-St Paul, Hollywood, St Louis, Oaxaca Sports, and the Chicago and Seattle Latino fests.
Set in a primarily Latino inner-city Chicago public high school, Finitzo’s film is ostensibly focused on Kelly High’s girls’ soccer team, who don’t even have a field to practice in and often have to use the hallways because the gym is otherwise engaged. However, this isn’t really a film about sports, or if they win a season, or even a given game. Finitzo instead focuses on the players, and their inspirational father figure of a coach, to comment on the inequities these young women face, not only in school, but in the outside world, because of gender, race, and class, and the resilience they’ve developed to keep going.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, June 17: A PLACE TO STAND
Daniel Glick’s portrait of a prisoner turned poet premiered in New Mexico in 2014. Festival play has included Boulder, Maui, Sedona, Napa Valley, Santa Fe, and Illuminate. The doc now comes to VOD platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, Youtube, XBOX, Playstation and Cable On Demand.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was sent to the notorious Arizona State Prison to serve five years for theft and drug charges. Hardened by a childhood of abandonment and abuse, he acted out as an adult through violence and aggression, and was given solitary confinement. When a Christian missionary reached out to him via letters, the essentially illiterate Baca became inspired to learn to read. Struggling through the process over a long period, he gained a new perspective and self-confidence, abandoning violence for the power of self-expression. Developing into a poet while still incarcerated, he began to have his work published, and, after his release, he has returned to prisons to lead writing workshops. While Baca’s story of redemption is compelling, Glick tells it in a conventional manner, weighing it down with an excess of narration and talking heads, making for an unfortunately static experience that detracts from the power of the poet’s words.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 17: MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER
Jin Mo-young’s portrait of an elderly couple debuted at DMZ Docs in 2014, where it won the audience award. Other screenings have included Hot Docs, Los Angeles, Tempo Doc, Visions du Reel, DocAviv, Sydney, BFI London, RIDM, Cork, DOK Leipzig, Moscow, Hamptons, and the New York Asian fests.
Cho Byeong-man, 98, and Kang Kye-yeol, 89, have been married 76 years. Their children and grandkids may occasionally come to visit, but, for the most part, it’s just the two of them, inseparable in their modest country home. When they walk into town, or head out on group outings with other seniors, the loving couple dress in bright matching traditional outfits. They’re prone to playfulness, engaging in snowball or water fights. Cho can’t fall asleep unless he’s touching his beloved Kang, while she requests that he sing for her while she’s using the outhouse late at night to allay her fears. Although Cho tries to stay active, collecting firewood and tending to his beloved dogs, he has started to become short of breath and prone to painful coughing bouts. Over the course of the film, his condition worsens. With no recourse due to his advanced age, relatives descend on the family home to say their farewells, and Kang sadly prepares for the inevitable, slowly beginning to burn some of Cho’s clothes so he has something to wear in the afterlife. Jin’s remarkably crafted, at times magical, portrait offers audiences a brief but enduring glimpse of love, companionship, and mortality.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, June 17: RAIDERS!
Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen’s chronicle of a lifelong obsession debuted at SXSW last year. Other screenings have included DOC NYC, Dallas, Hot Docs, Fantasia, Traverse City, Melbourne, Sidealk, Denver, Rotterdam, and Docs Against Gravity. FilmBuff now releases the film on major VOD platforms.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
When three Mississippi preteens set out to pay tribute to their favorite film in 1982, little did they know it would become an obsession that lasted three decades. Committed to making their own version of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, they spent seven eventful summers recreating the epic adventure, shot for shot – with the exception of one scene beyond their scope. When footage of their project surfaces decades later, becoming a sensation, it reignites their drive to finally finish their low-budget masterpiece, no matter what.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
The world’s oldest LGBT film fest, San Francisco’s Frameline, celebrates its 40th anniversary beginning tomorrow, Thursday, June 16. Approximately 70 new and retrospective features will screen through the course of its eleven-night run before it wraps on Sunday, June 26. Highlights of the more than two dozen documentaries on offer follow: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 