Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to PBS this Friday, August 30: SIDE BY SIDE

Chris Kenneally’s exploration of the impact of digital cinema made its debut at last year’s Berlinale. It went on to screen at Tribeca, Hong Kong, Tribeca, Munich, and Sydney, among others, in addition to a limited theatrical and VOD release. The doc now makes its broadcast premiere on PBS stations nationwide.

I included the film in my Tribeca coverage here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, August 27: REWIND THIS!

Josh Johnson’s paean to home video had its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. Other screenings have included IFF Boston, Puchon Fantastic, Fantasia, Melbourne, and the upcoming L’Etrange and Strasbourg fests. The doc premieres exclusively on iTunes today, expanding on September 10 to Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, XBOX, Sony PlayStation, Cinemanow, and Vudu.

A love letter to a largely obsolete format, Johnson’s film profiles collectors, filmmakers, and retailers past and present who reveal how VHS still holds them gleefully in thrall. At once both a history of the medium and the lucrative home entertainment industry it spawned, and an appreciation for what’s at the heart of holding on to the clunky artifacts, the doc offers much nostalgic appeal in an appropriately lo-fi package. Talking heads focused, with a welcome amount of illustrative clips from a treasure trove of schlocky, bizarre, or otherwise noteworthy VHS curiosities, this is simple fun – and respectful – pop cultural film geekery. But beyond appealing to the 1980s-90s generations who grew up with VCRs, Johnson wisely provides enough history and context to draw in younger viewers. Critics and filmmakers reflect on the way home video introduced the concept of timeshifting, fundamentally changing the way viewers engaged with broadcast television; how it encouraged close and repeat viewings, amusingly pointing out that heavily worn out sections of rental tapes typically presaged imminent sex or violence scenes that were obsessively rewatched by previous renters; note the explosion of film fandom and literacy, enabled by easy access to thousands of library titles previously rarely available except in repertory theatres or television broadcast; and gave the tools to fans and would-be filmmakers to both produce and easily share content, inspiring a vibrant low-budget filmmaking scene and bootlegging culture. In the face of this legacy, as well as the fact noted here that a significant body of work never made it past VHS onto latter day formats like DVD or BluRay, it’s easy to understand why many of the interviewees in Johnson’s film see treasure where others see junk.

Coming to PBS today, Tuesday, August 27: THE MARCH

John Akomfrah’s detailed exploration of the historic 1963 March on Washington makes its debut tonight on PBS as part of a special week of programming commemorating the watershed moment in civil rights. It will be rebroadcast tomorrow, on the actual 50th anniversary, with viewers afforded the opportunity to interact with original organizers and key activists.

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 Americans, both black and white, descended upon the nation’s capital to peacefully demand an end to segregation and other discriminatory practices, creating a lasting symbol that motivated lawmakers to pass important reforms. John Akomfrah’s film transports the viewer back to that time, profiling the major players behind the scenes who made that historic assemblage possible, from organizers A Phillip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and the coalition of civil rights leaders who brokered the support of Kennedy’s White House, to committed volunteers who worked tirelessly to spread awareness of the event and to organize the logistics to enable supporters to attend from all over the country. While moments from the event, which caps off the riveting film, like Martin Luther King Jr’s masterful “I Have A Dream” speech – the final one delivered – still carry tremendous emotional resonance, the film also spotlights other, less widely remembered invocations, such as John Lewis’, which threatened a last-minute schism because of its potentially incendiary language, prompting a rewrite. As he has demonstrated in his past work, Akomfrah skillfully builds the film largely through archival footage, much of it rarely seen, creating an immersive effect that places the viewer into the racially divided United States of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and captures the immediacy of a society during a transformational moment.

Coming to NYC’s Film Forum this Wednesday, August 28: TOKYO WAKA: A CITY POEM

John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson’s Tokyo city symphony made its debut at San Francisco last year. It went on to screen at Silverdocs, Big Sky, IFF Boston, Haifa, and the United Nations Association Film Festival, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, August 30: OUR NIXON

Penny Lane’s archival exploration of the 37th President’s White House debuted at Rotterdam earlier this year. It went on to screen at SXSW, New Directors/New Films, Los Angeles, Nantucket, Seattle, AFI Docs, and Traverse City, among others, and was broadcast on CNN at the beginning of the month. After opening at IFC Center, the doc will expand throughout the US via Cinedigm.

I included the film in my SXSW roundup here.

Coming to HBO this Monday, August 26: GLICKMAN

James L Freedman’s tribute to legendary sportscaster Marty Glickman made its debut at Santa Barbara earlier this year. The doc went on to screen at Jewish festivals in San Francisco, Atlanta, San Diego, and Austin, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release earlier this month.

Freedman, who produced Glickman’s late-night sports program when the former was only a high school senior, crafts an affectionate celebration of the man noted by many interviewees as a pioneer in the field of sports announcing, on radio, in the nascent realm of network television, and, significantly, on cable at HBO’s birth. While utilizing a somewhat stilted narrator to bridge the gaps, Freedman also makes good use of archival audio and video of Glickman, allowing his late subject – who passed in 2001 at the age of 83 – ample room to tell his own story in his distinctive and down-to-earth style. Loosely organized into different chapters, headed by an evocative quote delivered either by Glickman or one of his admirers, the film is surprisingly comprehensive without being overwrought, relating the life of a Jewish-American New Yorker who was a talented athlete, making it to the 1936 Olympics before a successful college football career at Syracuse, and who later developed into a consummate sports announcer. The discrimination he experienced at the Berlin Olympics leaves a particularly singular impression – a fellow runner and Glickman, the only Jewish athletes on the US team, were pulled from their event to appease Nazi leadership fears that their win might undercut Nazi propaganda about Jewish inferiority. One is struck by the parallels to the current controversy around the upcoming Sochi games and Russia’s homophobic laws, making for an unintended but very topical connection. For a figure who here touchingly reflects on racial, religious, and gender equality and camaraderie in the arena of sports and sportscasting, that resonance seems especially fitting.

Coming to DVD next Tuesday, August 27: KOCH

Neil Barsky’s exploration of the life and political career of Hizzoner debuted at the Hamptons last Fall. It went on to screen at Palm Springs and several Jewish fests, including Boston, New York, Toronto, and Atlanta before enjoying a limited theatrical release.

I previously wrote about the doc here.