Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series on the WORLD Channel tonight, Tuesday, April 15: DEPUTIZED

Susan Hagedorn and Amanda Zinoman’s investigation of a brutal hate crime premiered at Hamptons Take 2 Doc in 2012. It has also screened at Durango, Arizona, and San Antonio.

In a Long Island community that has seen a rapid growth of a Latino immigrant population, and an increase in their scapegoating by elected officials, seven teens face hate crime manslaughter charges after beating Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian man, to death. This tragic incident, the result of casual, random acts of violence pejoratively called “beaner hopping,” awakens awareness of other such crimes, under-reported when victims have been undocumented workers, and emboldens Lucero’s brother to become an advocate for his community. But Robert Conroy, the father of the supposed ringleader of the attack, takes issue with the media’s portrayal of his son. Hagedorn and Zinoman carefully balance their film, notably providing space for a multiplicity of perspectives, crafting an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of intolerance, scapegoating, and groupthink.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 15: THE END OF TIME

Peter Mettler’s exploration of the concept of time made its debut at Locarno in 2012. It went on to screen at Toronto, Atlantic, Busan, Jihlava, RIDM, CPH:DOX, IDFA, Palm Springs, and BAFICI, among many others.

Tackling a subject that is simultaneously omnipresent yet elusive, Mettler weaves together a disparate series of gorgeously shot tableaux that theoretically illustrate or intersect with various conceptions of our experience of time. A tour of CERN’s particle accelerator, for example, imagines the recreation of conditions not seen since immediately following the Big Bang, while a visit to Detroit’s dilapidated buildings demonstrate the more recent ravages of temporality. Ultimately, no clear answer emerges in this part-essay, part-experimental doc – it’s hard to even know what to do with the question, “what is time?” as illustrated in the final moments of the film by the filmmaker’s aged mother – but it’s certainly successful in provoking a sense of wonder about something we take for granted.

Coming to VOD and screening once at the IFC Center tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15: BOMBAY MOVIE

Alexandra Eaton’s look at indie filmmaking in India made its debut at the New York Indian Film Festival last year. It also screened at Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival. FilmBuff now releases the doc on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Movies on Demand, and other platforms.

Lured to Bombay, the home of Bollywood, Indian director Raja Menon cut his teeth making forgettable mainstream features that left him dissatisfied and failed to reflect the world he saw outside his window. Inspired by the stories of the working poor around him, Menon sets out to make a film very different from the fare that has popularized Bollywood around the world, recruiting an Italian producer and securing a sympathetic investor to help him realize his vision. Eaton’s hourlong film follows the production, with both expected headaches – shooting in an overcrowded metropolis and dealing with temperamental actors – and unanticipated hurdles – dodgy crew members who try to bilk the filmmakers, but gets much more interesting when the film is completed. Unable to find a distributor, the investor fronts additional money to allow the filmmakers to release it themselves, only to face serious competition from a major Bollywood blockbuster comedy, declining cinema attendance, and a seemingly apathetic public, leading Menon to wonder if there’s room for indie films in a Bollywood country.