Category Archives: Overviews

This Thursday, April 3 sees the São Paulo launch of Brazil’s premier non-fiction event, It’s All True for its 19th edition, with Rio hosting its own opening event the following evening. The festival runs concurrently in both cities through Sunday, April 13, with touring programming reaching other cities later in the month and in July. In total, more than 74 films will screen, representing 26 countries. The following briefly highlights both competitions, and a few selections from the non-competitive programming strand:

Among the seven feature docs in the Brazilian Competition are Carlos Nader’s ORDINARY MAN (pictured), a portrait of a truck driver and his family made over two decades; Jorge Furtado’s THE STAPLES OF NEWS, an examination of the media and its political function; and Leonardo Dourado’s FOR A HANDFUL OF DOLLARS – THE NEW EMIGRANTS, a profile of three families directly affected by economic migration.

A dozen films are included in the International Competition, including Robert Kirchhoff’s NORMALIZATION (pictured), an investigation into a 1976 murder of a Slovakian student; Li Youjie’s ALAO’S VILLAGE, following the educated director back to his native peasant village; and Eva Knopf’s MAJUB’S JOURNEY, an exploration of the story of an African WWI colonial soldier who appeared in 1930s German cinema.

Finally, nine features are presented in the out of competition Special Programs section, including: Gonzalo Arijón’s BATTLE FOR RIO pictured), about the controversial and gentrifying police crackdowns taking place in Rio’s favelas; Pamela Yates’ DISRUPTION, following coordinated efforts to bring sustainable economic development to poor women in Colombia, Brazil, and Peru; and David Teboul’s BARDOT, THE MISUNDERSTOOD, an authorized biography on the legendary French actress, on the condition that she is not interviewed.

Durham NC’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival opens its 17th edition this Thursday, April 3, and runs through Sunday, April 6, presenting nearly a hundred films and special events. Among the special programs this year are a tribute to Steve James, including screenings of six of his past films and a conversation about the 20th anniversary of HOOP DREAMS; and “Approaches to Character,” a subject-focused program curated by filmmaker Lucy Walker. Beyond this retrospective programming, the festival’s line-up includes several strong films from Sundance, SXSW, and IDFA, as well as several titles making significant premieres in Durham, spotlighted below:

Eight feature docs enjoy their world premiere at Full Frame, including: Doug Block’s meditation on marriage, 112 WEDDINGS, which opens the fest; Lucia Small and Ed Pincus’ personal confrontation with mortality and grief, ONE CUT, ONE LIFE; Joanna Lipper’s chronicle of Nigeria’s most influential political families, THE SUPREME PRICE; Abby Ginzberg’s portrait of a celebrated anti-Apartheid leader, SOFT VENGEANCE: ALBIE SACHS AND THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA; Stephanie Wang-Breal’s exploration of the bureaucracy of child protective services, TOUGH LOVE; Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick’s look at union organizing by NYC restaurant workers, THE HAND THAT FEEDS; Kenneth Price’s profile of a music producer turned Harvard scholar, THE HIP-HOP FELLOW, and Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara’s exploration of Vietnam War re-enactors, IN COUNTRY.

Making its US premiere is Heilika Pikkov’s FLOWERS FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, following an octogenarian Russian Orthodox nun. Among the North American premieres are: Chai-Min Ahn’s WHERE IS MY SON? (pictured), in which a son returns to care for his elderly mother; Paul-Anders Simma’s OLGA – TO MY FRIENDS, about the sole woman on a Lapland reindeer brigade; Corinne van Egeraat and Petr Lom’s ANA ANA, in which four Egyptian women document their lives in Cairo; and Yotam Feldman’s THE LAB, an exploration of Israeli’s lucrative defense industry.

The 36th edition of Cinéma du Reél, Paris’ premier nonfiction event, kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, March 20, and continues through Sunday, March 30. The festival, focused on visual anthropology and social documentary, annually presents about forty new or recent feature documentaries as well as scores of shorts, retrospective programming, installations, and panel programming. The following spotlights new work that has piqued my interest appearing in the event’s three feature competition sections: Continue reading →

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 19, sees the launch of the 38th edition of the popular Cleveland International Film Festival, a sprawling and increasingly popular regional cinema event that annually serves the cinephilic tastes of the Ohio city. Showcasing over 350 films from nearly 70 countries through Sunday, March 30, the festival’s lineup includes approximately 70 documentary features, appearing in several sidebars and as part of a variety of competition programs. Highlights from the latter are singled out below: Continue reading →

The 43rd annual edition of the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films launches tomorrow, Wednesday, March 19, and continues through Sunday, March 30. The Spring cousin of the venerable New York Film Festival, ND/NF is a more tightly curated affair, presenting just under 30 feature length films from innovative and emerging filmmakers. Among these are just six recent works of nonfiction or hybrid nonfiction:

Three of these include recent standouts from Sundance which I’ve previously profiled: Talal Derki’s immersive Syrian civil war chronicle, RETURN TO HOMS, which previously opened IDFA; Hubert Sauper’s South Sudanese neocolonial expedition, WE COME AS FRIENDS (pictured); and Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s hybrid essay on musician Nick Cave, 20,000 DAYS ON EARTH, winner of two awards in Park City this January.

I’ve also previously written about another hybrid offering, Roberto Minervini’s slow-burning would-be rural romance, STOP THE POUNDING HEART. Other selections include Ben Rivers and Ben Russell’s experimental hybrid, A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS; and Jessica Oreck’s THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA (pictured), which blends fairy tale animation and documentary storytelling in a parable of life in Eastern Europe.

The 16th edition of Greece’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival began this past Friday, so I’m a bit late in posting this “preview.” I’ll once again be attending the tail end of the event, which will run through this coming Sunday, March 23, unspooling more than 140 new documentary features, with shorts and retrospective programming adding to that tally, including a tribute to the recently departed Peter Wintonick. What follows is a breakdown, section-by-section, of new and recent films in the lineup that have caught my attention, omitting titles that I’ve covered previously elsewhere. Continue reading →

SXSW kicks off tomorrow, Friday, March 7, and runs through Sunday, March 16. Between attending True/False (post to come) and working on programming Nantucket, I have been remiss in highlighting this year’s documentary line-up in any depth. As I’ve noted before, my annual pilgrimage to Austin feels like a rite of Spring, a week of typically warm weather that preps me for the eventual thawing out of a NYC seemingly caught in an endless polar vortex. While I’ll be checking out as many of the offerings, fiction and nonfiction alike, for Nantucket, my heart remains with the latter, so I’m especially interested in the fifty feature docs that are included in this year’s lineup. Selections from each section are highlighted below. Continue reading →

One of my favorite film events of the year, the True/False Film Festival, begins its second decade tomorrow, with its eleventh edition running through the weekend. Just over forty features plus several shorts will screen for the fest’s loyal local Columbia MO audience, as well as the scores of visitors that flock to the event each year. A festival with a distinctive vision, an appreciation for cinematic non-fiction, the organizers also have cultivated a unique approach to the event itself, peppering it with beloved traditions, like the March March Parade, eclectic screening venues, and fun parties. This year, they’ve decided to shake things up even further, revealing several weeks ago that they will be sharing revenue with their featured filmmakers. I’m always excited to head out to the festival, which carefully curates a program of new and recent work, cherry-picking from among the best of Sundance, IDFA, and other events, while offering some secret sneak previews, and, this year notably, a number of world premieres – though they don’t make a big deal about the latter. The following highlights these as well as other works I haven’t already mentioned here before. Continue reading →

Croatia’s ZagrebDox celebrates its first decade beginning this Sunday, February 23, with the documentary fest wrapping up its tenth edition the following Sunday, March 2. Nearly a hundred features screen over the course of the event, representing new and recent docs, as well as a significant number of retrospective works. Amongst its lineup are several titles familiar from the international documentary circuit, already covered here elsewhere, and, more intriguingly, a healthy sampling of national and regional work, much of it spotlighted below: Continue reading →

Montana’s largest film festival, Missoula’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, kicks off its 11th edition tomorrow, Saturday, February 15, and running through Sunday, February 23. Presenting a mix of new films, recent festival favorites, and a healthy dose of retrospective selections, the event has carved a distinctive space for nonfiction in the American West. This year, in addition to its annual Made in Montana sidebar, showcasing local productions like Daniel T Skaggs’ FREELOAD, about modern-day train hoppers; music doc section Sights and Sounds; indigenous showcase; and past fest participants, Encore; the event offers sidebars on comedy docs, wilderness films, and a retrospective on Robert B Weide. Other selections are highlighted below. Continue reading →