Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, November 19: BEST KEPT SECRET
Samantha Buck’s look at a driven teacher of special needs students had its premiere at the Independent Film Festival Boston. Other fest engagements included Montclair and AFI Docs, before its limited theatrical release and POV broadcast. The Orchard now makes it available on iTunes, Amazon, X-box, Google Play, and Vudu.
I previously wrote about the doc out of AFI Docs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19: AT NIGHT I FLY
Michel Wenzer’s look at the impact of an arts program on prison inmates debuted at Sheffield in 2011. It also screened at FilmFest München, Tempo Doc, Planete+ Doc, Thessaloniki Doc, Raindance, and MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, among others. FilmBuff now releases the doc on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox Video, Cinemanow and Vudu.
I previously included the film in my Thessaloniki Doc coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19: INFORMANT
Jamie Meltzer’s complex profile of a notorious activist turned FBI source made its world premiere at San Francisco last year. Its fest circuit included New Orleans, DOC NYC, IDFA, Cleveland, Florida, Big Sky, Thin Line, Denver, Woodstock, Austin, and Sebastopol Doc, among others. The film also enjoyed a limited theatrical release this Fall.
I previously wrote about the doc out of DOC NYC here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, November 18: INDIAN RELAY
Charles Dye’s trackside exploration of a Native American equestrian sport premiered at the National Museum of the American Indian this past Spring. It’s also screened at community screenings in New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Santa Fe, and Seattle, among others, before making its broadcast premiere in Montana last month. Independent Lens now brings the doc nationwide in nearly 1000 PBS broadcasts in commemoration of Native American Heritage Month.
With origins as a competitive sport going at least as far back as the mid 19th century and likely earlier, the unique sport of Indian relay horse racing has proven popular in the American West but remains largely unknown outside. Dye’s film introduces viewers to the competition, where up to eight jockeys ride bareback, switching to a new horse after the first two of three laps, often at over 40 miles per hour. Following three teams hailing from First Nations in Idaho and Montana, Dye chronicles the ups and downs of one season for young neophyte Miles of the Blackfeet Nation, the up-and-coming Tissidimit team from the Shoshone-Bannock Nation, and early favorites MM Express from the Crow Agency of the Apsaalooke Nation. While there are a few too many subjects crammed into the film’s television hour length to form a fully-rounded picture of any of them, Dye manages to successfully capture the energy – and danger – of the sport, the love shown to the horses, and how the relay offers its participants, and spectators, the opportunity to honor Native traditions and culture.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO as part of its Docs Fall series tonight, Monday, November 18: WHOOPI GOLDBERG PRESENTS MOMS MABLEY
Whoopi Goldberg’s funny and engaging tribute to the legendary African-American comedian debuted under its original title, I GOT SOMETHIN’ TO TELL YOU, at Tribeca this past Spring. Other stops on the fest circuit have included Mill Valley, Austin, Provincetown, LGBT fests in Seattle and Washington DC, and Chicago’s Black Harvest, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Released on DVD last week: BLACKFISH
Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s exploration of the consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity debuted at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Other screenings have included DOC NYC, Nantucket, Seattle, Sarasota, Vancouver, Provincetown, AFI Docs, Miami, Moscow, Melbourne, and Sydney, among others. The film has enjoyed a limited theatrical release and has been broadcast on CNN.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Al Jazeera America Presents tonight, Sunday, November 17: TINY: A STORY ABOUT LIVING SMALL
Merete Mueller and Christopher Smith’s personal chronicle of living with less debuted at SXSW. It’s gone on to screen at DOC NYC, Hot Docs, IFF Boston, Mountainfilm, Tallgrass, Hollywood, and Hot Springs, among others.
I included the doc in my Hot Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
A rural Columbian town becomes the frontline for gold exploitation by a Canadian multinational mining concern.
The titular mountain town has steadily drawn from its wealth of gold deposits for over five centuries, but that has all changed in recent years. Colombia, hungry for widespread economic development and relationships with the West, has imperiled the community by selling mines to a small Canadian company at an alarming rate. With gold prices soaring in the wake of the global economic recession, the Canadians plan to displace the 8,000 people of Marmato, level the mountain, and transform their home into an open-pit to extract the estimated $20 billion in gold buried within. Filmmaker Mark Grieco has been living among the people and filming since 2006, chronicling the slow takeover of the town and the growing resistance of its people to what seems to be inevitable. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Coming to MoMA as part of the annual Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You series tomorrow, Saturday, November 16 and Monday, November 18: SURVIVAL PRAYER
Benjamin Greené’s portrait of the people and land of the Haida Gwaii archipelago debuted at Camden last year. It went on to screen at Vancouver, Ashland, Cleveland, and Sarasota, among others, picking up a special jury prize at the latter.
Opening with a close up on the wizened face of one of the indigenous Haida people as she relates a legend about Raven in the language of her people, forgetting a few words, the film immediately underscores the fragility of the culture it’s exploring. Interviews with various inhabitants of the island chain located off the coast of British Columbia, Haida and non-Haida alike, address environmental concerns, the local fishing and logging industries, and the need to return to more sustainable practices in their stewardship of the water and land – before the last of the elders, and much of their traditional knowledge, passes. Greené’s filmmaking is thoughtful, featuring exceptional cinematography and sound design, as it bridges history and modernity, ethnography and meditation, to capture a sense of place.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
The sixth and last of this year’s DOC NYC shorts programs explores a yearning for the past, often wrapped up in places.
DOC NYC Program Description:
THEN & NOW:
Thursday, November 21 at 9:30pm
Nostalgia and changing times. THE PHOTO MAN (USA, 7 min., Ben Kitnick) trades in old photographs. An antique store owner welcomes visitors in NOT FOR SALE (USA, 10 min., Matthew C. Levy). THE FINAL NOTE (USA, 16 min., Mayeta Clark) profiles a South Bronx piano warehouse. A young couple takes over THE MERCANTILE (USA, 16 min., Brian Bolster), a general store in remote Montana. LAST DAYS OF THE VIDEO STORE (USA, 7 min., Quin O’Brien) shows the struggle of a once-thriving business. Remembrances of a swiftly changing Brooklyn come to animated life in OF MEMORY & LOS SURES (USA, 15 min., Laurie Sumiye & Andrew Parsons). CAMP STORY (USA, 26 min., David B. Levy) reveals the impact of getting away from the city as a kid. (97 min. total)
Why You Should Attend:
The pull of the past is strong in these shorts, from lost photos to vanishing businesses, summer memories to transforming neighborhoods.
More Info:
To purchase tickets, follow the link from the program page by clicking on the program title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
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