Coming to VOD today, Monday, January 12 and to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13: THE CASE AGAINST 8
Ben Cotner and Ryan White’s behind-the-scenes look at the Supreme Court fight over marriage equality debuted at Sundance last year, claiming a directing award. Its circuit also included SXSW, DOC NYC, Nantucket, Cleveland, DOXA, Hot Docs, Sarasota, and Dallas, among others. The Oscar shortlisted doc now comes to iTunes and to DVD.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Moving over to this year’s Documentary Premieres section: Brad Besser’s chronicle of a cult classic, BEAVER TRILOGY PART IV.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13: KLANSVILLE USA
Callie T Wiser’s exploration of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s makes its debut as part of the 27th season of the venerable PBS program, and is based in part on the book by the same name by sociologist David Cunningham.
Wiser provides a brief but informative history lesson on the origins, rise, fall, rebirth (thanks to 1915’s THE BIRTH OF THE NATION), and second fall of the white supremacist organization before focusing in specifically on its eventual re-emergence and unanticipated growth after the Supreme Court struck down Plessy vs Ferguson‘s “separate but equal” doctrine in 1954’s Brown vs Board of Education. While the growth of the civil rights movement provided the impetus for the dormant for decades group to return in the segregationist South, Wiser’s film seeks to explain how its traditionally most progressive state, North Carolina, became the KKK’s new base of power. While North Carolina sought a middle ground of gradual reform, a disaffected class of the white working poor grew increasingly resentful of the strides made by African Americans. The Klan offered a way to channel this group’s desire to not be on the bottom rung of society, with added incentive provided by their religious and anti-communist rhetoric. At the center of the North Carolina Klan was their Grand Dragon, Bob Jones, responsible for the massive expansion of the group, and the key figure of Wiser’s conventionally constructed, and very heavily narrated doc. She does a serviceable job of revealing the KKK’s history during this period, though the film’s limited running time precludes further expansion of its more interesting aspects, particularly the efforts of the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee to undermine Jones and dismantle his group’s credibility and power structure.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
This week’s Sundance doc profiles open with the final film of the 2015 World Cinema Documentary Competition: From Denmark, Michael Madsen’s THE VISIT, a speculative run-through of first contact. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed on the WORLD Channel tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13: TRASH DANCE
Andrew Garrison’s profile of vehicular choreography made its bow at SXSW in 2012, garnering a special jury mention. Screenings followed at New Orleans, Full Frame, Silverdocs, SF DocFest, DocuWest, Warsaw, Heartland, DOXA, Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera, and Napa Valley, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13: VESSEL
Diana Whitten’s exploration of the fight for reproductive rights on the high seas debuted at SXSW this Spring, where it picked up both a special jury prize and an audience award. Its fest circuit has also included Nantucket, DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Jerusalem, Sarasota, and IFF Boston.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
The penultimate contender in this year’s World Cinema Documentary Competition hails from Senegal/USA: Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman’s SEMBENE!, a tribute to the acclaimed African filmmaker. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, January 12: EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL
Darius Clark Monroe’s confrontation with his own dark past bowed at SXSW last year. Its fest circuit has included New Orleans, Full Frame, Dallas, Los Angeles, BlackStar, and BAMcinemaFest, among others.
I previously wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Next up in the World Cinema Documentary Competition is the sixth and final UK production: Chad Gracia’s THE RUSSIAN WOODPECKER, a secret history of the Chernobyl disaster. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, January 13: EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD
Daniel Dencik’s Arctic Circle odyssey had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in 2012. Screenings followed at True/False, Docville, Thessaloniki Doc, Planete+ Doc, Karlovy Vary, Los Angeles, AFI Docs, and Traverse City, among others.
I included the doc in my True/False coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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