Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3: EVERY LAST CHILD

Tom Roberts’ look at the response to a public health emergency made its bow at DOC NYC last year. Other fest berths have included last month’s Hot Docs.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
While polio has been all but eliminated since the development of vaccines in the 1950s, the debilitating disease has shown a resurgence in Pakistan. After the Taliban bans polio vaccinations and spreads misinformation about sinister conspiracies to frighten the masses, the country suffers devastating outbreaks of the disease, prompting strategic problem-solving from the World Health Organization. Featuring beautiful lensing and nuanced reporting under difficult circumstances, Tom Roberts’s observational film conveys an uncommon sense of the urgency befitting the stakes raised by the public health crisis.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 2: GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA

Nicholas Wrathall’s reflection on the acclaimed, controversial author debuted at Tribeca in 2013. Other fests included IFF Boston, Frameline, Outfest, Melbourne, Vancouver, London, Rio, Traverse City, New Zealand, Big Sky, and Palm Springs, among others

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

Coming to EPIX this Sunday, May 31: DEEP WEB

Alex Winter’s exploration of digital freedom under government attack had its world premiere at SXSW this Spring. It has since gone on to screen at Full Frame, San Francisco, Hot Docs, and Montclair.

As indicated by its title, Alex Winter’s documentary explores the Internet that most people wouldn’t know how to find, a place where users seeking anonymity have been able to carve out a black market cottage industry selling illicit items via seemingly untraceable browsers and currency. The specific focus of the film is the Silk Road, a “Darknet” marketplace which made the buying and selling of drugs a turnkey process until the federal government used dubious means to track down and arrest its administrator, known on the site simply as Dread Pirate Roberts, but infamously identified by authorities as Ross Ulbricht, an unassuming Libertarian who ran an upcycling business in Austin. While tracing the story of the rise and fall of the Silk Road, and of Ulbricht’s then-pending trial, Winter’s film offers a concise but surprisingly cogent, and bracingly provocative, crash course in the libertarian tenets that underpinned the site and its users’ strong stance on the necessity for encryption and privacy in the face of ever-encroaching government surveillance and unaccountability – not only for the deep corners of the Internet, but for all users.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series this coming Tuesday, June 2: IF YOU BUILD IT

Patrick Creadon’s look at design-focused education debuted at Full Frame in 2013. Fest screenings followed at DOC NYC, AFI Docs, Cucalorus, Austin, Heartland, Hot Springs, and the Hamptons, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to DVD this week: KUMU HINA

Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson’s portrait of a transgender Hawaiian teacher debuted at the Hawaii International Film Festival last year. It has traveled widely on the LGBT and Asian fest circuits, among other events, including Frameline, QDoc, Beijing, Chicago, Jakarta, Austin, Hong Kong, Auckland, Wellington, Dallas, and NYC.

I previously wrote about the film here.