Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, February 17: POINT AND SHOOT
Marshall Curry’s look at a thrillseeker turned unlikely freedom fighter premiered at Tribeca last year, where it won the Best Documentary Award. Further festival play included Hot Docs, Maryland, AFI Docs, IFF Boston, Nashville, Traverse City, New Zealand, and Melbourne. In addition to DVD release, the film now becomes available on iTunes.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series tonight, Tuesday, February 17: SHELL SHOCKED
John Richie’s exploration of the impact of gun violence on New Orleans’ youth has been showcased at community screenings in Louisiana and around the country since 2013. It has also played at regional film festivals such as Myrtle Beach, Connecticut, and Trenton.
Inspired to take action by the disturbingly high murder and violence rates in New Orleans, and the corresponding growth of hopelessness and fatalism among the city’s youth, Richie and his crew set out to find examples of positive solutions. Speaking to community leaders, activists, program coordinators, and, most affectingly, the mothers of young victims, the filmmakers humanize the statistics, and present models that offer alternatives to the dangers of the street, from a small video production house that uses satire to spread more positive messages to youth programs designed to keep at-risk youth off the streets. Even more importantly, Richie trains his camera on several teenagers, who are encouraged to speak frankly about their day-to-day confrontations with violence, death, police harassment, and futility, providing a space for their perspectives to be heard. While the film’s survey approach lends it a scattershot feel, its intent remains welcome, injecting a sense of hope, attention, and concern in an otherwise often overwhelmingly grim reality.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 17: WATCHERS OF THE SKY
Edet Belzberg’s look at the legacy of genocide made its world premiere at Sundance last year, where it won two awards. It went on to screen at Nantucket, Cleveland, Hot Docs, Melbourne, Sydney, and Human Rights Watch, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16: TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY
Cullen Hoback’s examination of the disappearance of online privacy debuted at Slamdance in 2013. Its fest circuit also included Hot Docs, Dallas, Newport Beach, SF DocFest, and Seattle, among several others.
I previously included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 17: PURGATORIO: A JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE BORDER
Rodrigo Reyes’ essay film on the border had its world premiere at Guadalajara in 2013. Other festival berths included Los Angeles, New Orleans, Ann Arbor, San Diego Latino, Chicago, Documentary Fortnight, and Traverse City.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 16: THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE
Thomas Allen Harris’ look at race through photography bowed at Sundance last year. Festival screenings followed at Berlin, Montclair, Pan African, Atlanta, Boston LGBT, and Frameline, among others.
I profiled the doc pre-Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, February 17: LIFE ITSELF
Steve James’ look at the life and career of Roger Ebert debuted at Sundance last year. Its extensive festival run has included Nantucket, DOC NYC, Cannes, Ebertfest, and AFI Docs, among several others. The film was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar, but surprisingly was not one of the five nominees.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s AfroPoP this Monday, February 16: THE ABOMINABLE CRIME
Micah Fink’s look at homophobia in Jamaica bowed at Frameline in 2013. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, Montclair, QDocs, BFI London, St Louis, Reeling, and Outfest, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to Anthology Film Archives tomorrow, Friday, February 13: COAST OF DEATH
Lois Patiño’s meditation on a legendary Galician coastal region made its debut at Locarno in 2013, where it picked up the award for Best Emerging Director. Other fest appearances included the New York Film Festival, True/False, Vancouver, Montreal, Tallinn, Jihlava, Rotterdam, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Jeonju, Valdivia, and Play-Doc, among several others.
The titular area, Costa da Morta – or, in Galician, Fisterra, translated as “end of the world” – gained its ominous name from its dangerous, rocky coastline which has proven the demise of countless ships since Roman times. Paying reverence to the grandeur and power of nature, Patiño carefully constructs his frame to highlight this landscape in a series of static long shots, typically filmed from above. While people are sometimes absent from these stunning, distant tableaux, where they are present offers an added, compelling layer to this portrait of a place, an often humorous, intimate aural counterpoint that reminds the viewer of the interactions of man and nature, even when the latter dwarfs the former. Beyond scenes of loggers felling trees or fishermen and women retrieving barnacles or other sealife, other everyday scenes play out, with local residents discussing the history of the coast, both legendary and recent. The result is a beautifully executed multivalent essay film that immerses the viewer in a distinct seaside land.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
MoMA’s annual showcase of nonfiction, Documentary Fortnight, opens its 14th edition tomorrow, Friday, February 13, with Stanley Nelson’s THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION, a chronicle of the controversial Black Power organization; and runs through Friday, February 27, which features closing night film HOT TYPE: 150 YEARS OF THE NATION, Barbara Kopple’s exploration of the long-running liberal weekly magazine. In addition to these titles, nineteen additional new feature documentaries will screen, as well as seven shorts, special lectures, an installation, and a retrospective selection of director Shirley Clarke’s work.
Several of this year’s selections put an emphasis on durational cinema, including: Kevin Jerome Everson’s eight-hour immersion into a working shift at a factory, PARK LANES; Wang Bing’s long shot exploration of the modest dwelling of a Chinese migrant family, FATHER AND SONS; and Peter Bo Rappmund’s time-lapse study of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, TOPOPHILIA (pictured).
Other works also focus on capturing a distinct sense of place, including Irene Gutiérrez Torres’ HOTEL NUEVA ISLA (pictured), a stunning portrait of a crumbling luxury hotel in Havana; Phil Collins’ TOMORROW IS ALWAYS TOO LONG, which constructs a multimedia version of Glasgow; and Nathalie Nambot and Maki Berchache’s BURN THE SEA, an essay film exploring the experiences of Tunisian immigrants to France.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
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