Coming to Rooftop Films this Saturday, July 27: BLACK OUT
Eva Weber’s look at the lengths Guinean students go to study made its debut at IDFA last year. Its fest circuit has included Paris’ International Environmental Film Festival, One World, Movies That Matter, Full Frame, Planete+ Doc, Aljazeera, Doxa, Los Angeles, and Open City.
I included the doc in my IDFA coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to Showtime for its cable broadcast premiere tonight, Tuesday, July 23: VIRGIN TALES
Mirjam Von Arx’s exploration of a family’s devotion to their children’s chastity made its debut at Visions du Réel last year. It went on to screen at Silverdocs, Denver, Woodstock, and Vancouver, among other fests.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs for Indiewire, saying:
Making its North American premiere here, Mirjam Von Arx’s film on the bizarre new phenomenon of Evangelical Christian purity balls showcases the overly close Wilson family of Colorado Springs. The founders of the event in their community, Randy and Lisa Wilson celebrate the chastity of their daughters until marriage and hold elaborate ceremonies for all manner of events in their seven home-schooled children’s lives. Focusing on a supposedly media-savvy family whose patriarch serves as the spokesman for a Religious Right “think tank,” Von Arx manages to capture moments of pure gold – manufactured “heartfelt” confessions of familial love whose lack of spontaneity is called out by a particularly sassy daughter, or the revelation from the twenty-something daughter (who’s desperately still waiting for her husband to appear) that she didn’t go to college because it would be a “waste of money” since she just wants to be a wife and mother. If it wasn’t so infuriatingly real, the film would make for great comedy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, July 24 and running through Saturday, August 3, NYC’s AsianCinevision presents the 36th edition of the Asian American International Film Festival. The event, the longest-running of its kind in the US, annually celebrates the work of Asian and Asian-American filmmakers. This year, the festival presents more than two dozen features and over forty shorts from eighteen countries, in addition to workshops and other special events. Among its documentary feature offerings are a pair of Sundance alums: Evan Jackson Leong’s LINSANITY, making its East Coast premiere here as the Opening Night film; and Jason DaSilva’s WHEN I WALK, screening as a sneak preview.
Among the other docs on offer are Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s MARILOU DIAZ-ABAYA: FILMMAKER ON A VOYAGE (pictured), an overview of the late Filipino director, whose 1983 KARNAL also screens this year; Hua Tien-hau’s GO GRANDRIDERS, about a Taiwanese senior citizen motorcycle club; Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi’s HAFU: THE MIXED-RACE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN, an exploration of Japanese biracial identity; and Benito Bautista’s HARANA, a search for a lost Filipino courtship tradition.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Halfway through Summer, it’s time for a getaway. If you can’t take the time off, watch my latest curated selections for Hulu’s Documentaries and hit the open road from the comfort of your screen. Watch these road trip docs now for free!
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Coming to ESPN as part of their Nine for IX series tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23: NO LIMITS
Alison Ellwood’s investigation into a dark episode in the world of competitive free-diving made its debut at Tribeca this Spring. The film was commissioned by ESPN for its women-directed, women in sports doc series, an offshoot of the network’s popular 30 for 30 doc brand.
I included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23: THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES
Chris James Thompson’s look at the Milwaukee serial killer made its debut at SXSW last year. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, BFI London, Maryland, IFF Boston, Sidewalk, and Milwaukee, among others, before a theatrical and VOD release.
I previously wrote about the doc out of SXSW here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO this Monday, July 22: THE CHESHIRE MURDERS
Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s investigation of a horrific Connecticut triple murder is making its debut as part of the cable channel’s acclaimed Summer Docs series.
Nearly fifty years after the shocking murder of the Clutter family in Kansas, the inspiration for Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD, residents of Cheshire CT were faced with a similar crime. The victims in this case were the Petit family – mother Jennifer, 11-year-old Michaela, and 17-year-old Hayley – raped and murdered by strangers during a home invasion which ended in arson. The only survivor was father William, who was badly beaten but managed to escape his captors. After the perpetrators were arrested, the shocking brutality of the crime sparked outrage and renewed debate about the viability of the death penalty. Davis and Heilbroner delve deeply into the case, providing a comprehensive, and riveting, account of what happened in the Petit home and, disturbingly, why help failed to come, even though authorities had been alerted to the danger they were facing. Interviews with individuals directly and indirectly connected to the crime attempt to make sense of the perpetrators’ actions – why they targeted the family, what motivated their unthinkable assault, and why they turned to murder. While this in-depth exploration proves fascinating, if decidedly unsettling, the filmmakers use the incident to explore its larger implications on the controversial topic of capital punishment, smartly blending true crime with the complexity of social justice in a case where the undeniably guilty defendants could hope for little sympathy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV this Monday, July 22: HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE
Stephen Maing’s look at the work of two of China’s citizen reporters had its premiere last year at Tribeca. Additional festival exposure followed at Hot Docs, Sydney, DocAviv, One World, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Woods Hole, and the IFF Boston, among others. The doc has already enjoyed a limited theatrical and VOD release.
I wrote about the film out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Friday, July 19: I HATE MYSELF :)
Joanna Arnow’s study of a bad relationship and worse decisions makes its official world premiere at Rooftop Films. It held a sneak preview screening at the LES* Film Festival last month, where it picked up an audience award.
Arnow, an insecure, somewhat-hipster 20something filmmaker, is sort of dating James, an obnoxious, intentionally insensitive poet who runs a cafe/performance space in Harlem. Possessed of an outsized personality that more than makes up for Arnow’s meekness, James deliberately provokes and alienates his patrons with racially charged language, and treats her like an afterthought. Her seemingly natural response – to film their “relationship” as a means to determine if she really should be with this abrasive asshole – gives this unusual project its shape and purpose. For her part, Arnow comes off as needy and annoying, yet possessed of a self-critical eye that forces viewers to wonder if she’s being impossibly candid and vulnerable, or instead has carefully calculated a persona that calls into question if this is fiction, nonfiction, or something inbetween – signaled by the film’s titular smileyface. Arnow’s complex approach to self-portraiture (or self-caricature?) comes to the fore in her interactions with her parents, who she forces to watch incredibly uncomfortable, sexually explicit footage, angering them enough to launch into a brilliant criticism of their daughter. Unlike any other figures in the film – such as Arnow’s friend/editor, appearing naked for no discernible reason – her parents leave a stark impression, precisely because they appear sane and have normal responses to untoward behavior. Independently mining similar terrain as Lena Dunham’s GIRLS, but with a decidedly blunter edge, Arnow has crafted a grotesquely compelling, if often perplexing and undeniably self-indulgent, self-portrait of young adulthood.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema this Friday, July 19: THE ACT OF KILLING
Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and their anonymous collaborators chilling look at Indonesia’s genocidal past debuted at Telluride and Toronto this past Fall. The well-traveled doc has picked up numerous awards on the fest circuit, including at Berlin, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Planete+ Doc, Documenta Madrid, Biografilm, and DocsBarcelona. It opens in Los Angeles and Washington DC next weekend, and expands throughout the country in August.
I included the doc in my Toronto coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 