Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 18: SONGS FROM THE NORTH

Soon-Mi Yoo’s exploration of North Korea made its debut last year at Locarno, where it won the award for best debut feature. Since then it has screened at Rio, Vienna, Cairo, Gothenburg, BAFICI, Vilnius, and NYC’s Migrating Forms, among others.

Taking a free-flowing, essayistic approach, Yoo’s film eschews a traditional narrative trajectory to instead offer a more impressionistic view of the ever-captivating enigma of the closed-off Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and of the South Korean filmmaker’s conflicted relationship to the nation. Combining footage shot during several trips, an interview with her father that serves as the film’s strongest through line, clips of various state-sponsored celebrations, selections from popular North Korean cinema, and occasional introspective title cards, Yoo forms an at times mesmerizing vision of the country that is at the same time strangely commonplace and located within some bizarre parallel universe.

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 18: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS

Mark Hartley’s revisitation of the schlock cinema of the legendary 1980s film group debuted at Melbourne last year. It went on to screen at Toronto, London, Haifa, Sitges, Mar del Plata, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Glasgow, Dublin, New Horizons, Film Comments Selects, and Fantastic Fest, among many others

At the center of Hartley’s infectious if unexceptionally mounted film are B-Movie kings Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus, the Israeli cousins who headed the prolific Cannon Films and produced a range of primarily low-budget, disposable genre and T&A heavy films. However, as amusingly noted at its end, they declined to participate, and appear here only in archival footage, having decided to make their own documentary (Hilla Medalia’s THE GO-GO BOYS) – which debuted at Cannes three months earlier, echoing their beat-them-to-the-punch tactics as recounted throughout Hartley’s retrospective. His film assembles scores of talking heads – Cannon directors, actors, crew, and other behind-the-scenes folk – to give the inside track on the so-called “Go-Go Boys” and their remarkably bad output, illustrated through copious clips from gems like NINJA III: THE DOMINATION, BOLERO, and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. While prone to nostalgic anecdotes and a fair amount of repetition, the film is undeniably entertaining, and expresses a genuine affection for Golan and Globus and their enterprising spirit and over the top showmanship – even if their taste level remains in question.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, September 16: PEACE OFFICER

Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber’s exploration of the rapid militarization of America’s police force made its world premiere at SXSW this year, where it claimed both best documentary and audience awards. The film also picked up awards at Full Frame and Montclair, and has screened at Hot Docs, Little Rock, AFI Docs, Traverse City, New Zealand, and Milwaukee, among others.

Christopherson and Barber ground their film in the compelling story of their protagonist, Dub Lawrence, a law enforcement vet who introduced Utah’s first SWAT team in 1975, only to see that same force go on to gun down his disturbed son-in-law three decades later. Since then, Lawrence has single-mindedly devoted all his energies to investigating the consequences of police militarization, tackling not only the truth behind his family’s tragedy, but other instances throughout the state involving unnecessary fatalities and excessive force. While localized to Utah, these often shocking tales of whole squadrons of heavily armed police teams facing off against unarmed, non-violent suspects speak to a broader, systemic issue – law enforcement viewing ordinary citizens as de facto enemy combatants, ready and willing to shoot without hesitation, belying the sentiment that lends the film its title.

Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Monday, September 14 and tomorrow, Tuesday, September 14, and being released on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 14: WALT DISNEY

Sarah Colt’s two-part, four-hour exploration of the life and legacy of the famed filmmaker and showman makes its debut over two nights on the popular long-running PBS program.

Faced with such an iconic subject, Colt is provided a bit more room to play with than in most such public television biographies, but even so struggles somewhat with finding a consistent focus. It’s an understandable problem, given her iconic subject, and despite occasional choppiness and the elision of huge swaths of time, particularly in the less structured second half, the documentary succeeds in providing a measure of insight. Part One details Disney’s humble, small town beginnings, early forays in animation, creation of his best known character, and development of Walt Disney Studios, culminating in the risky but critically acclaimed SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES, a film that demonstrated that cartoons were not just gags for kids, but could sustain feature length and handle more adult themes. His relationship with his more practical, financially-minded brother, Roy, gets some consideration, as does Walt’s savvy in exploiting the possibilities of licensed merchandise and branding. The first part also covers Disney’s development of BAMBI, PINOCCHIO, and FANTASIA, and the unionization of Disney’s animators against his wishes. Part Two is a bit more scattered, but largely concerns itself with Disney’s ambitious plans for both Disneyland and the later Disneyworld and EPCOT Center, with some television footage of the former’s grand opening used particularly well here. As in the first half, Disney demonstrates great showmanship, brokering a deal with ABC to finance his theme park while gaining valuable airtime to promote via a weekly TV series he himself hosted. Among the other topics given shorter shrift here are the mass phenomenon of Disney’s DAVY CROCKETT program; his testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, which provided him with the opportunity to get revenge on the union organizers who upset his control; the diversification of his studios’ output into family documentaries and live-action films; criticism about films like THE SONG OF THE SOUTH being out of touch with modern day sentiments around race; and his general stepping back from active involvement in the filmmaking process, to the detriment of such projects as CINDERELLA. What’s most surprising here is the candor on display that doesn’t shy away from the contradictory or even negative elements of Disney’s professional demeanor. Interviewees who were directly connected to Disney, including some aging animators, offer deep respect for the man, but also share anecdotes of his more challenging side, while academics provide often illuminating context and analysis that sometimes points to his flaws. That Colt made this with the Walt Disney Company’s cooperation is a surprise, given how protective they typically are of their image, and that of their storied founder.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15: THE SEVEN FIVE

Tiller Russell’s investigation of an NYPD corruption scandal debuted last year at DOC NYC. After a limited theatrical release, the film now comes to DVD.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD next Tuesday, September 15: ALL AMERICAN HIGH REVISITED

Keva Rosenfeld’s look back at the typical 1980s high school experience made its debut at SXSW last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Sidewalk, Hamptons, Hot Springs Doc, and Documentary Edge, among others. The doc now comes to DVD and to VOD platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In 1984, Keva Rosenfeld profiled the senior class of a typical California high school in ALL AMERICAN HIGH, exploring teenage life through the eyes of Rikki, a Finnish exchange student trying to make sense of a foreign culture of big hair, prudishness, and popularity. It’s fitting that a film about high school should have a reunion, and that’s what Rosenfeld offers in this irresistible updated version, as he revisits a number of the original documentary’s memorable subjects to reflect on their school days.