Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 22: TRASH DANCE

Andrew Garrison’s chronicle of the transformation of sanitation work into spectacle debuted at SXSW last year, where it received a special jury mention. It went on to screen at Full Frame, Silverdocs, and Woods Hole, picking up audience awards at each, as well as New Orleans, DocuWest, Warsaw, Heartland, DOXA, Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera, and Sedona, among others. The Orchard now releases the film on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, and Vudu.

Set in Austin TX, Garrison’s film follows an unexpected collaboration between choreographer Allison Orr and the city’s sanitation department that results in a one-night only mechanistic ballet of garbage trucks and the unheralded workers who keep the city clean. While the sold-out performance serves as the successful end of Orr’s project, what’s equally, or perhaps more, compelling are her research ridealongs and interviews with the skeptical, primarily African American and Latino/a garbagemen and -women whom she tries to convince to participate in the unorthodox project. To paraphrase one of the men, “what does this short-haired white lady want with us?” Orr’s full answer is wisely withheld until the film’s end, allowing the audience to recognize for themselves her motives in shining a spotlight on an often denigrated, but absolutely essential profession.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, October 22: FAR OUT ISN’T FAR ENOUGH: THE TOMI UNGERER STORY

Brad Bernstein’s look at the renegade children’s book author had its world premiere at Toronto last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Seattle, Rome, Nashville, Florida, Warsaw, Deauville, Haifa, and RIDM, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, October 25: I AM DIVINE

Jeffrey Schwarz’s loving tribute to Harris Glenn Milstead AKA Divine made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. Its extensive festival run has included several LGBT fests (including London, Tampa, Miami, Boston, Inside Out, Tel Aviv, Frameline, and Outfest), New Orleans’ Film-O-Rama, Cleveland, Florida, Nashville, DOXA, Sheffield, Sydney, Provincetown, Durban, and Melbourne, among many others.

Divine was John Waters’ muse, described by the King of Bad Taste as “the most beautiful woman in the world, almost,” and starred in his films until the performer’s early death in 1988. Still notorious for the infamous last scene at the end of PINK FLAMINGOS, a film predicated on a contest to determine “the filthiest person alive,” Divine has maintained cult celebrity status more than two decades after his death. Schwarz, who has previously lauded other outsized personalities from film history, such as horror director William Castle in SPINE TINGLER!, pornstar Jack Wrangler in WRANGLER, and LGBT film historian and activist Vito Russo in VITO, tells the performer’s definitive story, revealing how a boy who was bullied as an overweight sissy in high school found a family of like-minded outsiders among Baltimore’s countercultural scene of the 1960s, including nascent filmmaker Waters, who gave him his famed Genet-inspired sobriquet, and launched the inimitable Divine into unlikely stardom. Featuring interviews with friends like Waters and co-stars Ricki Lake, Mink Stole, and Tab Hunter, Schwarz’s film goes beyond the shock tactics of Divine’s stage persona to reveal the man beneath the makeup.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, October 22: SHEPARD & DARK

Treva Wurmfeld’s look at a longstanding male friendship made its world premiere at Toronto last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Cannes, Cleveland, Big Sky, San Francisco, and Woodstock, among others, before enjoying a limited theatrical release.

I previously wrote about the film out of Toronto here.

Coming to ESPN’s 30 for 30 series this coming Tuesday, October 22: BIG SHOT

Kevin Connolly’s revisitation of an infamous hockey scandal debuted at Tribeca this past Spring. It went on to screen at the Hamptons and Dallas’ USA Film Festival.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, October 21: THE WAITING ROOM

Peter Nicks’ intimate look at America’s health care system debuted at Full Frame last year, where it won an award. It has also screened at True/False, Hot Docs, Silverdocs, Ashland, and San Francisco, among others, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release.

I included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.