Category Archives: Overviews

Festival:
The 19th Urbanworld Film Festival

Dates:
September 18-22

About:
Five documentary or hybrid features screen at this NYC spotlighting films by African American and multicultural filmmakers.

Screening as a Spotlight is Roger Ross Williams’ THE APOLLO, on the history and legacy of the legendary Harlem theatre; while other nonfiction offerings include: Lisa Cortés and Farah X’s THE REMIX: HIP HOP X FASHION, on the intersection of fashion and hip hop in the late 1980s and 90s; Daniel Effiong’s SKIN, which explores perceptions of skin color and beauty in Nigeria; Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi’s BAKOSO: AFROBEATS OF CUBA, a look at the roots of the musical genre; and Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez’s hybrid BY THE NAME OF TANIA, the story of a Peruvian villager forced into prostitution.

Festival:
The 15th Camden International Film Festival

Dates:
September 12-15

About:
This well-liked Maine nonfiction event presents more than 30 features, in addition to shorts, new media, and the Points North Forum, which features panels, workshops, masterclasses, industry meetings, and pitch sessions.

While the bulk of the feature lineup consists of a well-curated selection of standout titles that have debuted elsewhere on the circuit over the past year, this year’s edition also presents several world premieres. Among these are: Martha Shane’s NARROWSBURG, an entertaining but cautionary tale about a late 1990s attempt to turn a small upstate New York town into the “Sundance of the East;” Ian Cheney’s THIRTEEN WAYS, which explores the different ways a range of individuals respond to the same patch of land; Michel Negroponte’s MY AUTONOMOUS NEIGHBOR, a collage-like portrait of an eccentric artist and philosopher; Vytautas Puidokas’ EL PADRE MÉDICO, a dark tale of a Lithuanian priest turned Amazon miracle worker; Daniel Vernon’s THE CHANGIN’ TIMES OF IKE WHITE, which explores what happened to a California prisoner who recorded an influential music album in 1974; and Andrea Kalin’s SCATTERING CJ, detailing how a mother’s attempts to deal with the suicide of her son became a viral phenomenon.

Festival:
The 44th Toronto International Film Festival

Dates:
September 5-15

About:
Once again, approximately 40 new works of nonfiction appear out of the nearly 250 features on offer at this powerhouse North American event. Continue reading →

Festival:
The 46th Telluride Film Festival

Dates:
August 30-September 2

About:
This year’s festival unspools 18 documentaries among its 39 offerings of new features. Continue reading →

Festival:
The 76th Venice International Film Festival

Dates:
August 28-September 7

About:
Between its official selection and two autonomous sidebars, the world’s oldest film festival showcases just over 30 documentaries among its 100+ offerings. Continue reading →

Festival:
The 25th Sarajevo Film Festival

Dates:
August 16-23

About:
Celebrating an anniversary year, this Bosnian and Herzegovinan event – founded during the siege of Sarajevo – presents 35 documentaries among its approximately 100 new or recent features. Continue reading →

Festival:
The 16th New York Latino Film Festival

Dates:
August 12-18

About:
Seven docs screen among more than 20 new features in this event highlighting the work of Latinx filmmakers and talent.

These titles include Sundance award-winning hybrid THE INFILTRATORS, Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra’s story of undocumented youth intentionally seeking detention by Border Patrol; Chelsea Hernandez’s SXSW-debuting BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM, an exposé of dangerous practices and abuses of immigrant labor in construction; Ben DeJesus’ RAUL JULIA: THE WORLD’S A STAGE, an upcoming American Masters/Voces profile of the acclaimed actor; Pat McGee’s THE DEPORTED, which explores individuals caught up in deportation proceedings; Michael Dominic’s CLEAN HANDS, a longitudinal portrait of a Nicaraguan family living in extreme poverty; HBO Latino’s FARRUKO: EN LETRA DE OTRO, a concert doc on the Emmy-winning reggaeton performer; and Maceo Frost’s TOO BEAUTIFUL: OUR RIGHT TO FIGHT, about a female boxer in Cuba, where women are banned from the sport.