Coming to PBS’s POV this Monday, July 1: SPECIAL FLIGHT
Fernand Melgar’s observational look at Switzerland’s deportation system debuted at Locarno in 2011, where it picked up two awards. Its extensive festival run has included DOK Lepizig, Mumbai, Doclisboa, Doha Tribeca, RIDM, Docpoint, One World, Thessaloniki Doc, Full Frame, BAFICI, Silverdocs, and Dokufest Kosovo.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 28: THE SECRET DISCO REVOLUTION
Jamie Kastner’s whimsical exposé of the subversive core of ’70s music culture had its world premiere at Toronto last year. It went on to screen at Rotterdam, London, Stockholm, Newport Beach, and Frameline, among other fests.
I included the doc in my Toronto roundup here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Nearing in on its half-century, Karlovy Vary, set in a beautiful Bohemian spa town in the Czech Republic, launches its 48th edition festival this Friday. The event is among the highest ranked competitive festivals by FIAPF, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations – colloquially referred to as an “A”-list festival – in the ranks of Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Locarno, among other European powerhouses. Its geographic location allows it to serve as a bridge between Western and Eastern Europe cinema, while its position on the calendar allows it to launch new films outside of the shadow of Cannes and before the busy late Summer/early Fall festivals. Its setting and the weather also serve as a great excuse for a party, as thousands of university students annually backpack to the event to watch some films and drink until the wee hours of the night. With upwards of 180 features in the lineup, it’s easy to see how the event takes over the town, drawing not only students, but a large industry presence as well. While I won’t be attending, the following highlights some of the nearly 40 nonfiction or hybrids that will be screening this year: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Thursday, June 27: THE OUT LIST
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ cross-section of LGBT life in the US has held sneak previews in New York, Salt Lake City, Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, but makes its official national debut via HBO.
Continuing the set up of Greenfield-Sanders’ previous popular projects, THE BLACK LIST and THE LATINO LIST, which have gone on to spawn sequels, his latest project is effective in its simplicity: beautifully photographed interview subjects, representing both celebrities and everyday folks, directly address the camera about some facet of their lives as it intersects with the LGBT experience. Lady Bunny talks about the freedom of drag, Jake Shears embraces a sense of being an outsider, Larry Kramer reflects on the power of channeled anger in AIDS activism, and Ellen, Neil Patrick Harris, and Cynthia Nixon each address the impact of coming out on their careers. While these more familiar faces help make the project more viable, the non-celebrity participants offer often poignant examples about how their own visibility has helped validate other LGBT people – such as writer Janet Mock inspiring other trans women, sheriff Lupe Valdez being elected in traditionally conservative Republican Dallas, or Afghani-American teacher Wazina Zondon providing a role model for her students. Not surprisingly, and timed to be released the week of the Supreme Court’s decision, many of the interview subjects reference marriage equality, from Dustin Lance Black’s emotional response to the passage of Prop 8, to Suze Orman’s frustration at unfair estate taxes on same-sex surviving spouses, to Christine Quinn’s no-nonsense insistence on the importance of the word “marriage.” By the nature of the project’s survey approach, this can’t go into great depth on any one topic, and can’t hope to be representative of the entire spectrum of the LGBT community, but as a present-day overview of its leading concerns, and a celebration of identity, it serves its purpose well.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Quad Cinema this Friday, June 28 and to HBO as part of its annual Docs Summer Series next Monday, July 1: GIDEON’S ARMY
Dawn Porter’s portrait of the struggles of Southern public defenders had its world premiere in competition at Sundance at the beginning of the year, where it picked up the Documentary Editing Award. Since then, the film has screened at Miami, Full Frame, Ashland, Little Rock, AFI Docs, and at various legal conferences.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 25: MARRIED AND COUNTING
Allan Piper’s chronicle of the efforts of a gay couple to be married in every state where it’s legal debuted at the FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival last summer, where it picked up two awards. Other stops on the festival circuit included doc fests like San Francisco and ArcLight, LGBT fests like Seattle, ImageOut, Austin, Out on Film, and Tampa, as well as the upcoming Woods Hole. Just as the nation waits to hear the Supreme Court’s decision on the Prop 8 case, FilmBuff releases the film on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Movies on Demand, PlayStation, Nook, Google Play, VUDU, CinemaNow, and XBOX.
Texans Pat and Stephen met in college in the mid-1980s, immediately fell in love, and have been together ever since. When Piper’s film begins in late 2010, the long time New York City residents are unable to be legally married in New York state – proposed marriage equality legislation failing before – so the couple does the next best thing: they make plans to wed in every state where gay marriage is legal. While they explain more than once that they’re doing this to protect themselves as much as possible under current laws, it’s clearly more of a symbolic gesture of protest and of their love for one another. The former because their various marriage ceremonies don’t confer any federal rights, nor are they recognized internationally or in other states, and they want to remind viewers of this; the latter because they are genuinely a sweet couple who want to share their special day(s) with friends around the country. Along the way, the stresses of planning multiple consecutive weddings wears on them at moments – not only because they seem to be habitually late to appointments, but also, more poignantly, as they both address long-simmering issues around family acceptance. Narrated intermittently by George Takei, Piper’s workmanlike film is as successful as it is because of Stephen and Pat, and would have benefited from less of the fairly repetitive weddings and more of their personalities and daily lives. Late in the film, after they celebrate their “last” ceremony, New York’s passing of marriage equality provides an opportunity for a hometown wedding in Coney Island among friends – but one hopes that they’ll have at least one remaining, definitive, federally-recognized ceremony to plan soon.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26: HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS
Matthew Cooke’s subversive look at the lucrative world of drugs debuted at Toronto last year. Its festival circuit also included Tribeca, Tromso, and Newport Beach, among others. Already available on VOD, it opens at the IFC Center and expands to additional theatres this weekend.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 25: THE LAST WHITE KNIGHT
Paul Saltzman’s surprising re-encounter with a Klansman who assaulted him decades before made its debut at Toronto last year. Since then, it has screened at Cleveland, Vancouver, and at several Jewish film fests, including San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Maine.
I included the doc in my Toronto coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25, and to PBS’s America ReFramed on WORLD Channel this Sunday, June 30: FOLLOW THE LEADER
Jonathan Goodman Levitt’s coming-of-age portrait of three politically-engaged teenage boys had its debut at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this past year. It went on to screen as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, the PaleyDocFest, and the recently completed Northside Film, where it picked up a jury award. Cinedigm will be releasing the film on iTunes and other platforms, while Tugg makes it available for theatrical screenings.
At the start of Levitt’s doc, sixteen-year-olds DJ, Nick, and Ben all self-identified, more or less, as conservatives, but over the course of the three-year project, their political leanings diverge from any monolithic conception of that term. All are involved in student government, and all have dreams of becoming President, in some cases attending political leadership camp or volunteering for local election campaigns. Displaying the qualities of typical teenage know-it-alls, supremely confident in and opinionated about their beliefs, part of the joy in the film is watching as the more open-minded of them – Nick and DJ – mature and acknowledge that they may not know all the answers, shifting their positions or refocusing their goals. For his part, DJ, already devout, leads with his faith rather than blindly supporting one political party or ideology, eventually leading him to pursue a different calling entirely. Nick, on the other hand, finds his idealism about the potential in bipartisanship challenged more than once. And then there’s Ben… He’s decidedly the most extreme, and intransigent, in his Republican conservatism, fully aware of the dirty side to politics, but seemingly so ambitious that he’s fine with it – likely making him, in some viewers’ eyes, a great villain of sorts who you can love to dislike (“hate” is too strong a word in this context). Levitt selected three distinctive and personable subjects to follow, and stuck with them long enough to witness their transformation in their key early college years, as each contends with the ramifications of the Obama/McCain election. The result is an absorbing and intriguing look at the next generation of political engagement in a time of intense partisanship.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to TV this Wednesday, June 26: UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP
Jim Hubbard’s chronicle of AIDS activism debuted at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight last year. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, Frameline, Outfest, Mix Brasil, and a host of LGBT fests around the world. It will screen on KCET Link TV this Wednesday, with repeats on Thursday and Saturday, available on the DISH Network channel 9410, DIRECT TV channel 375, and around the US here.
I included the doc in my Hot Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 