Category Archives: Overviews

Closing in on a quarter of a century of bringing films to the Big Easy, the 24th edition of the New Orleans Film Festival kicks off this Thursday, October 10, and runs through next Thursday, October 17. The premier film event in Louisiana, the regional festival has been growing in stature for the past few years, buoyed by a passionate staff, excellent curation, and a perfect destination setting, making it no surprise that more than 200 filmmakers are expected to attend their screenings this year, in addition to industry representatives serving on numerous panels and juries. Continue reading →

Beginning its third decade this Thursday, October 10, the 21st edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival runs through Monday, October 14. More than seventy features will screen in the tony townships located about 100 miles east of New York City, offering locals a chance to sample potential Oscar contenders and acclaimed international work, while also drawing Manhattan industry for an early Fall weekend getaway. Among the lineup are more than two dozen feature docs, with some of the highlights noted below. Continue reading →

Now entering into its 18th year, the Busan International Film Festival – beginning today, Thursday, October 3, and running through Saturday, October 12 – has established itself as Asia’s premier film event. Supporting the work of Korean filmmakers while also offering an expansive view of the rest of Asia, the event draws many US and European programmers seeking new work from the region. Local audiences are well-served with an international lineup that highlights titles that have made a splash at some of the other major festivals around the world, from Cannes to Venice to Toronto. Just under 300 films are in this year’s lineup, with only 10% of those being documentaries, including Gianfranco Rosi’s surprise Venice winner, SACRO GRA, an intimate exploration of Rome’s large ring road and those living alongside it. The following is a sampling of the most intriguing new nonfiction on offer in the festival’s Wide Angle section.

Eleven titles vie in Busan’s Documentary Competition, part of the Wide Angle section, including: Aya Hanabusa’s TALE OF A BUTCHER SHOP (pictured), a profile of a Japanese family butcher business, from slaughter to sales; Baby Ruth Villarama’s JAZZ IN LOVE, a portrait of a crosscultural gay marriage between a young Filipino and a middle-aged German; Tiong Guan Saw’s PAST PRESENT, following director Tsai Ming-liang’s revisitation of his past and how it informs his filmmaking; Lyam Kim’s DREAM HOUSE BY THE BORDER, an exploration of the impact of Korea’s split between North and South as reflected in people’s homes; and Sung-bong Cho’s GUREOMBI – THE WIND IS BLOWING, chronicling the resistance of Jeju Islanders to a planned military base.

The Wide Angle section also hosts the fest’s other main collection of nonfiction, Documentary Showcase. Of the seventeen titles here, some of the new or lesser-known include: Hong-Ki Lee’s SPLENDID BUT SAD DAYS (pictured), a portrait of the harsh life of a foulmouthed seventy-year-old fisherwoman; Xiaolu Guo’s LATE AT NIGHT – VOICES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, a look at disenfranchised and marginal residents of London’s East End as they face gentrification; Tonislav Hristov’s SOUL FOOD STORIES, an exploration of Bulgaria through a food-focused microcosm; Lu Zhang’s SCENERY, profiling the experiences of immigrant workers in Korea; and Hojae Lee’s LAZY HITCHHIKERS’ TOUR DE EUROPE, following shiftless Korean college dropouts as they travel abroad for a year.

Upstate New York’s “fiercely independent” film event, the Woodstock Film Festival, turns 14 this year. Opening today, Wednesday, October 2, the fest runs through this Sunday, October 6, unspooling over 125 films during its run. Of these, more than fifty are features, and about half of those are documentaries. The following highlights a selection of titles I haven’t previously covered here.

A couple of titles making their world premiere at the festival this year are Joe Berlinger’s HANK: FIVE YEARS FROM THE BRINK (pictured), a portrait of the former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson and how he weathered the 2008 economic crisis; and Aram Garriga’s AMERICAN JESUS, an expansive survey of the influence of evangelical Christianity on American culture. Dana Ben-Ari’s BREASTMILK, an exploration of the challenges and misconceptions around breastfeeding, makes its North American bow; while Alex Stonehill and Bradley Hutchinson’s BARZAN, about an Iraqi refugee caught up in charges of terrorism, has its East Coast premiere here.

Among Woodstock’s New York premieres are Haskell Wexler’s FOUR DAYS IN CHICAGO, chronicling protests against last year’s NATO Summit in the Windy City; Sierra Pettengill and Jamila Wignot’s TOWN HALL, a portrait of two Tea Party activists in the lead-up to last year’s presidential election; Rob Kuhns’ BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD, a history and tribute to George Romero’s cult classic zombie film; and Jeremy Workman’s MAGICAL UNIVERSE (pictured), the story of the director’s unique relationship with an outsider artist whose muse is Barbie.

Maine’s Camden International Film Festival begins its ninth edition tomorrow, Thursday, September 26, and runs through the weekend. In addition to the event’s Points North Documentary Film Forum, connecting emerging filmmakers with industry professionals, thirty new feature documentaries, as well as four retrospective films and a number of shorts, will screen during the festival, primarily curated from the offerings of some of the best festivals taking place earlier in the year, including Sundance, SXSW, Hot Docs, Full Frame, and Tribeca.

Among some of the less familiar or newer titles screening in Camden are: Estephan Wagner’s LAST DREAMS (pictured), about three women facing imminent death; Bo Bartlett, Betsy Eby, and Glenn Holsten’s SEE, which follows two artists exploring the act of seeing; and Daniel Dencik’s MOON RIDER, a portrait of a young man striving to become a championship cycler. Other titles which I’ve not yet had the chance to see include: James N Kienitz Wilkins’ PUBLIC HEARING, a verbatim restaging of a town hall meeting; Jane Gillooly’s SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME, which explores an illicit affair as revealed through found audiotapes; and David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s NIGHT LABOR, which follows a worker on his factory night shift.

Retrospective screenings at Camden this year include Peter Davis’ 1974 Vietnam film, HEARTS AND MINDS (pictured); Barbara Kopple’s 1977 miners’ strike doc, HARLAN COUNTY, USA; Nathaniel Kahn’s 2003 portrait of his father, MY ARCHITECT: A SON’S JOURNEY; and Hubert Sauper’s 2004 cautionary environmental film, DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE.

This Friday, September 27, the Film Society of Lincoln Center launches the second half century of the New York Film Festival. Running through Sunday, October 13, the 51st edition continues the event’s reputation as a meticulously curated showcase for standout contemporary international cinema. With close to seventy new feature-length films, as well as dozens of shorts, retrospective screenings, and new media, NYFF remains one of the highlights on the Fall festival calendar, and a must-attend event for NYC cinephiles. Among the nearly three dozen new feature docs included in this year’s line-up are the following selections: Continue reading →

Israel’s Haifa International Film Festival kicks off its 29th edition tonight, September 19, and runs through next Saturday, September 28. Historically the first film festival in the country, it annually takes place during the Sukkot holiday, introducing audiences to more than a hundred new and retrospective features and shorts, including a large slate of Israeli productions. Approximately forty of these are new documentary features, primarily appearing in the four sections noted below.

Docs make up nearly half of the Israeli Film Competition, including several which commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War: Amos Gitai’s KIPPUR WAR MEMORIES, which features material the director filmed during the war, when he was part of a helicopter crew that was shot down; Yoel Sharon’s ONE BATTLE TOO MANY (pictured), an animated doc about the final day of conflict, when the director was wounded; Nurit Kedar’s three-part CATCH 73, about the influence on Israel of the generation of those who fought in the war; and the first episode of Amit Goren’s four-part THE AVOIDABLE WAR. Two selections explore the African immigrant experience in Israel: Yotam Kaminsky and Mor Carmel’s NIGERIAN BAR MITZVAH, about a boy’s desire to fit in with his Israeli friends; and Itamar Chen’s NIGHT SHIFT, exploring an Ethiopian enclave tin Rehovot through the eyes of its beat cop. Among the other docs screening here are Judith Kahana’s GARDEN OF EDEN, a look at a home for young women rejected by their ultra-Orthodox families; and Dani Wasserman’s DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE?, the story of a matchmaker with muscular dystrophy.

Moving outside of locally made work, the fest spotlights nonfiction from around the world in International Documentaries. Selections here include: Roberto Minervini’s STOP THE POUNDING HEART (pictured), a hybrid portrait of a young religious woman who slowly questions her beliefs after meeting a young bullrider; Lyubov Arkus’ ANTON’S RIGHT HERE, which follows an autistic teenager for several years; Esther Hoffenberg’s VIOLETTE LEDUC, IN PURSUIT OF LOVE, about the contemporary of Simone de Beauvoir who never shied away from controversial topics in her novels; and Shane Salerno’s SALINGER, about the reclusive author of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.

Haifa Classics, like Cannes’ similar section, combines retrospective fiction with new documentaries about filmmakers and film. Included in the latter category are six titles, including James Toback’s SEDUCED AND ABANDONED (pictured), following the director and Alec Baldwin as the pitch their new project at Cannes; and Gérald Morin’s ON FELLINI’S FOOTSTEPS, a portrait of the director’s mentor. Finally, Haifa presents CinemArt, a program largely consisting of art docs, curated by critic David D’Arcy.

NYC’s Urbanworld Film Festival launches tonight, Wednesday, September 18, screening two dozen features and more than thirty shorts through this Sunday, September 22. Focused on spotlighting the work of African American and multicultural filmmakers, the festival celebrates its 17th edition this year.

Among its lineup are nine documentary features. Screening as a Spotlight is Nelson George’s FINDING THE FUNK, a loving survey of the music genre that bridged soul and hip hop. Music is also at the core of Reuben Atlas’ BROTHERS HYPNOTIC, about the brass band made up of jazz legend Phil Cochran’s sons; Kerri Gawryn’s A LOVELY DAY (pictured), following Oakland youth as they work to express themselves through hip hop; and Manauvaskar Kublall’s AMERICAN BEATBOXER, a chronicle of the first-ever American Beatbox Championship in Brooklyn.

A different championship is at stake in Crystal McCrary’s LITTLE BALLERS, which follows four eleven-year-olds as they set out to win the Amateur Athletic Union’s National Basketball competition. Youth and sports figure in Daphne Schmon’s CHILDREN OF THE WIND (pictured), the story of Caribbean windsurfers; while kids and their education is the subject of Jyllian Gunther’s THE NEW PUBLIC. On the lighter side, Tamarat Makonnen’s IN SEARCH OF THE BLACK KNIGHT wonders where all the eligible black men are. Finally, Yoruba Richen’s THE NEW BLACK takes on the complex issue of the African-American community’s response to gay marriage.

NewFest: The NY LGBT Film Festival turns 25 this year, celebrating beginning this Friday, September 6 and running through Wednesday, June 11. After a dozen years at its helm, I left the festival after its 20th anniversary in 2008. Since then, the event has gone through many changes, most recently beginning a welcome partnership with LA’s Outfest, and relocating to the fantastic Film Society of Lincoln Center. While NewFest has scaled back considerably over the past five years, screening only 19 features and just over 30 shorts this year, these new relationships promise a resurgence and renewed focus in future editions.

Four documentary features and one hybrid make up the nonfiction component of this year’s festival. Notably, three of these are very well-regarded Sundance alumni: Christina Voros’ KINK, an inside look at a BDSM porn company; Marta Cunningham’s VALENTINE ROAD, a heartbreaking exploration of a homophobically motivated school shooting; and Travis Mathews and James Franco’s INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., a speculative recreation of lost scenes from CRUISING. Also screening are Scott Gracheff’s THE RUGBY PLAYER (pictured), on gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham; and Jeff Roy’s MOHAMMED TO MAYA, following a brash woman through her MTF surgery.

In just two days, the international film industry and cinephiles alike will descend on our neighbor to the North at the Toronto International Film Festival. The 38th edition of the event, which was known as the Festival of Festivals for its first two decades, runs through Sunday, September 15, providing North American audiences with their first opportunity to sample some of the standouts from key European fests like Cannes, Venice, and Locarno, as well as a staggering number of world premieres. Over 40 documentary features, including new films, hybrids, and retro classics, will screen out of nearly 300 titles, giving nonfiction junkies plenty to pay attention to. I’ll be in attendance for the first half of the festival, which also includes the two-day Doc Conference, checking out as much as possible. What follows here are the films on the top of my must-see list: Continue reading →