Coming to MUBI this Saturday, January 22:
WHIRLYBIRD
Director:
Matt Yoka
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Full Frame, Calgary, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Sun Valley
About:
The story of a marriage’s fraying against the backdrop of cutthroat news reporting in 1990s Los Angeles.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to MUBI this Wednesday, January 19:
TAMING THE GARDEN
Director:
Salomé Jashi
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, New Directors/New Films, Shanghai, Cinéma du Réel
About:
An artful look at the unusual disruption caused by the removal and transport of several massive trees from small Georgian villages.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD via The Criterion Collection tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18:
TIME
Director:
Garrett Bradley
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
New York, London, Hamptons, Miami, Zurich, Camden, Mill Valley
Notable Recognition:
The doc was nominated for the Academy Awards.
About:
A longitudinal portrait of a marriage and a family separated by incarceration.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18:
THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT
Director:
Julien Faraut
World Premiere:
Rotterdam 2021
Select Festivals:
Documentary Fortnight, Jeonju, Midnight Sun
About:
United by their jobs in a textile factory, a Japanese women’s volleyball team chases absolute perfection—and finds international superstardom—representing postwar Japan on the 1964 Olympic stage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY
Can you separate the art from the artist? Should you even try? While there are many people about whom we could ask those questions, none poses a tougher challenge than Bill Cosby.
Director:
W Kamau Bell
Producers:
Andrew Fried, Katie A King, Geraldine L Porras, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, Jordan Wynn
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
To The End
Stopping the climate crisis is a question of political courage, and the clock is ticking. Over three years of turbulence and crisis, four remarkable young women of color fight for a Green New Deal, igniting a historic shift in US climate politics.
Director:
Rachel Lears
Producers:
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
The Princess
Princess Diana’s story is told exclusively through contemporaneous archive creating a bold and immersive narrative of her life and death. Turning the camera back on ourselves, it also illuminates the profound impact she had and how the public’s attitude to the monarchy was, and still is, shaped by these events.
Director:
Ed Perkins
Producers:
Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
MY OLD SCHOOL
The astonishing true story of Scotland’s most notorious imposter. It’s 1993 and 16-year-old Brandon is the new kid in school. Soon he’s top of the class, acing exams, and even taking the lead in the school musical. He’s the model pupil, until he’s unmasked…
Director:
Jono McLeod
Producers:
John Archer, Olivia Lichtenstein
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Friday, January 14:
WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA
Director:
Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
World Premiere:
SXSW 2021
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Fest, Seattle, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Woodstock
About:
ACLU lawyer Jeffery Robinson’s shattering talk on the history of US anti-Black racism is interwoven with archival footage, interviews, and Robinson’s story, exploring the legacy of white supremacy and our collective responsibility to overcome it.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
LUCY AND DESI
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had an immense influence on the creation of TV syndication, and rose to become true entrepreneurs and multi-faceted moguls. Through interviews and archival, a tribute to trailblazing icons in comedy and entertainment.
Director:
Amy Poehler
Producers:
Michael Rosenberg, Justin Wilkes, Nigel Sinclair, Jeanne Elfant Festa, Amy Poehler, Mark Monroe
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details by clicking on the film title above.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 