Now available on VOD: THE WOLFPACK
Crystal Moselle’s look at a sheltered family raised on films made its bow at Sundance this year, where it claimed the US Documentary Grand Jury Prize. It went on to screen at Nantucket, Cleveland, Full Frame, Sarasota, Tribeca, San Francisco, and Seattle, among others. Magnolia now makes the film available on VOD, exclusively on iTunes.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, July 13: WEB JUNKIE
Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia’s unprecedented look at Chinese Internet addiction had its world premiere at Sundance last year. Screenings followed at Miami, Dallas, Melbourne, Traverse City, One World, Hong Kong, ZagrebDox, Göteborg, and DOXA, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Saturday, July 11: ROMEO IS BLEEDING
Jason Zeldes’ look at a poet’s response to gang violence made its bow at San Francisco, where it took home the documentary audience award. It also took won awards at Seattle and Berkshire, and has screened at Newport Beach.
Donté Clark’s hometown of Richmond CA has been plagued by a deadly gang turf war for decades. Rather than accept the mindless violence as an immutable status quo, the young poet sets out to make a difference for the youth of his community, and founds the RAW Talent Creative Arts program to channel art into awareness and action. Zeldes follows Clark and his collaborators as they prepare a modern update of ROMEO AND JULIET, substituting Richmond for Verona, and spoken word for Shakespearean iambic pentameter, hoping to create a dialogue among the community. Clark makes for an engaging, inspiring protagonist in an ultimately hopeful portrait of a troubled place.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Tomorrow, Thursday, July 9 sees the kick off for the 33rd edition of Los Angeles’ Outfest, one of the leading LGBT fests in the world, which will present just over 60 new features until its wrap on Sunday, July 19. Among these are 24 new documentaries, including opening night selection, TIG, Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York’s portrait of a tumultuous year in the titular comedian’s life; and centerpieces BEST OF ENEMIES, Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon’s Vidal vs Buckley chronicle; and OUT TO WIN, Malcolm Ingram’s look at LGBT athletes.
Documentaries appearing in the main program of the festival include a mix of brand new work and other highlights from the past year of LGBT programming from larger festivals like Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, and Berlin. Among the offerings are: Cammie Pavesic and Michael Gough’s ADD THE WORDS, on the fight for workplace protections for LGBT people; Marc Serena and Pablo García Pérez de Lara’s TCHINDAS (pictured), a portrait of a transgender Cape Verdean woman preparing for Carnival; Alex Berry’s DRAG BECOMES HIM, about a RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE contestant; Parvez Sharma’s A SINNER IN MECCA, a personal journey to Mecca by the gay Muslim filmmaker; and Ron Nyswaner’s SHE’S THE BEST THING IN IT, a portrait of celebrated character actress Mary Louise Wilson.
Nonfiction also appears in the fest’s Special Events section, such as Lauren Fash and Ryan Suffern’s OUT & AROUND (pictured), which follows a lesbian couple as they meet with LGBT rights advocates around the world; and in the avant-garde Platinum section, which includes Brad Besser’s BEAVER TRILOGY PART IV, the story behind a cult classic which was made three times.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
The 32nd edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival begins this Thursday, July 9, and presents just over 100 new features through Sunday, July 19. Compared to last year’s nearly 50 nonfiction features, this year’s event offers just over 30, including a fair number of new Israeli work, noted below:
Seven titles vie for recognition in the Documentary Competition, including: Herz Frank and Maria Kravchenko’s BEYOND THE FEAR, which profiles Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, and his tabloid-fodder wife; Silvina Landsmann’s HOTLINE, focused on a Tel Avis nonprofit that serves refugees and migrants; Badran Badran’s PENNIES (pictured), about child beggars who support their Palestinian family; and Nirit Aharoni’s STRUNG OUT, a look at the lives of drug-addicted prostitutes. Separately, four docs compete for the Spirit of Freedom Award, including Anat Goren’s MUSSA, about a mute twelve-year-old African refugee in Tel Aviv.
Outside of competition, the JFF Docs section includes Francois Miron’s portrait of experimental film pioneer PAUL SHARITS; while the Israeli Cinema sidebar offers Helen Yanovsky’s profile of teenage boxing hopefuls, JERUSALEM BOXING CLUB; and Tzvika Binder’s strange story of a once popular father/son magic act and their scandalous fall from grace, LIVING IN ILLUSIONS (pictured).
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7: 112 WEDDINGS
Doug Block’s meditation on wedded bliss debuted at Full Frame last year. Other fest screenings have included Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Melbourne, Traverse City, and Jewish fests in San Francisco, Boston, and Westchester, among others. It now comes to VOD exclusively via iTunes.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 3: STRAY DOG
Debra Granik’s profile of a Vietnam vet debuted at last year’s Los Angeles Film Festival, where it claimed the best doc award. Its extensive fest appearances include New York, New Orleans, Zurich, Hamptons, BFI London, Hot Springs Doc, Indie Memphis, Stockholm, Film Columbia, Zagreb Dox, Cleveland, Sarasota, Nashville, and Jeonju, among others.
Granik’s titular subject, whose real name is Ron Hall, is a southern Missouri biker who runs an RV park. Despite his gruff exterior, Hall displays a deep generosity of spirit, counseling fellow veterans, attending military funerals of strangers, advising his aimless granddaughter about her future, and creating a welcoming environment for his new wife, Alicia, and her twin teenage sons, who eventually move from their native Mexico to join their mother only to be surprised at the limits in the so-called land of opportunity. Taking a strictly observational approach, Granik allows Hall’s personality and background – and the lasting impact of his two tours of duty in Vietnam – to emerge unhurriedly. The result is a patient, telling portrait of a warrior bearing the invisible scars of his military service, and a slice of Americana that becomes more complex as the film develops.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Hitting the half-century mark this year, the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens tonight, Friday, July 3, and runs through next Saturday, July 11. In addition to several retrospective screenings, the prestigious event features approximately 135 new feature-length films, of which just under 30 are documentaries, matching the reduced number of nonfiction offerings evident since last year’s edition. With a handful of exceptions, the nonfiction programming primarily is set apart in its own competitive and non-competitive sections, highlighted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, July 6: TOUGH LOVE
Stephanie Wang-Breal’s look at the struggles of parents facing Child Protective Services had its world premiere at Full Frame last year. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, Hot Docs, IFF Boston, CAAMFest, Seattle, and the Rocky Mountain Women’s fest, among others.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
What makes a good parent? How do you prove you are one, after you’ve been deemed unfit? Having lost custody of their children to Child Protective Services, two parents in New York City and Seattle fight to win back the trust of the courts and reunite their families in Stephanie Wang-Breal’s moving film. Acknowledging their past parenting mistakes due to poverty and addiction, both Hasna and Patrick contend with a flawed system that often seems more interested in punishing adults than in serving the best interests of children.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 1: A POEM IS A NAKED PERSON
Les Blank’s Leon Russell music doc, completed in 1974, recently made its debut at SXSW. It has since screened at AFI Docs and BAMcinemaFest prior to its theatrical release.
Originally commissioned by folk rocker Leon Russell but caught up in legal troubles, likely due to the artist’s dislike of the final film, Blank’s unruly portrait went unreleased for over four decades. After the filmmaker’s death, his son brokered an agreement with Russell to remaster and finally release the film, long heralded as a “lost” classic by Blank fans. While I’m generally an admirer of Blank’s work, I remain generally uninterested in music docs, and I have no idea who Russell is – following viewing this portrait, that hasn’t changed much: as far as music portraits go, this one is an odd duck. Fans of Russell will likely appreciate the performance footage, but bristle, perhaps as Russell himself did, at Blank’s seeming lack of focused concentration on his ostensible subject – the filmmaker is as likely to train his camera on the demolition of a building in Tulsa, a sunset, or a group of parachuters as he is to following the musician around. This free-association, slice of Americana approach yields some lovely moments of local color – such as an early interview with an older neighbor couple, or a little girl insisting on singing Three Dog Night at a wedding – but in the end proves more frustrating than not compared to Blank’s other, better-known works.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 