Category Archives: Overviews

The Telluride Film Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, recognizing this achievement by expanding to five days, beginning today, Thursday, August 29 and concluding this coming Monday, September 2. For many, the event marks not only the end of Summer, but the beginning of Awards season. Annually cultivating an impressive lineup of standouts from Cannes, and some of the most eagerly anticipated films of the latter half of the year, Telluride offers attendees an opportunity to enjoy a more intimate sneak peek at many titles that will screen the following week at Toronto to much larger, and often more business-minded, crowds. Though I’ve never been to the festival, many friends who have regularly attended have sworn by it, likening the small Coloradan resort town to a film lover’s paradise, a serene setting in contrast to the stress that often accompanies larger events. Organizers have cultivated this sense of wonder and excitement, withholding the public announcement of their lineup until the day before the festival begins, in contrast to standard operating procedure of virtually every other fest. It’s a testament to their power as curators and to the trust they’ve engendered over the decades that attendees are willing to make the trek out on blind faith, but they’re rarely disappointed with the range of offerings. These consist of more than three dozen new feature-length films, in addition to various retrospective programs, shorts, conversations, and unannounced sneak previews. Of the features, more than 20 are documentaries. The following runs down many of the more intriguing selections, with full descriptions available by downloading Telluride’s program guide. Continue reading →

The oldest film festival in the world, the Venice International Film Festival, opens its 70th edition tonight, and continues through Saturday, September 7. Together with Locarno, Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival, Venice is one of the key film events of the late Summer/early Fall, introducing the latest slate of high profile titles that will figure on cinephiles’ must-see lists. Decidedly more focused on fiction offerings, only 20 new documentary features screen in the fest’s relatively tight 100-strong lineup, which is split between the larger official selection and two smaller autonomous sections programmed by independent film associations. The following offers a brief overview, highlighting the more notable nonfiction scheduled to screen: Continue reading →

The 12th edition of Kosovo’s Dokufest kicks off this Saturday, August 17, and continues through Sunday, August 25. Held in the historic city of Prizren, the event is well-regarded within the international documentary community, notable not only for its programming but also for its larger mission to foster film culture in the once war-torn region that for more than a decade counted no cinemas within the city. The festival’s lineup of more than 75 documentary features largely consists of selections of some of the best international nonfiction featured in other fests over the past year, included in multiple competitions, including human rights and environmental categories, as well as several out of competition thematic sections.

Because I’ve covered the majority of these films out of other festivals, my focus of interest here rests primarily on Dokufest’s Balkan Dox competition, showcasing more than a dozen films from the region. Among the intriguing, and less familiar, titles here are: Kaltrina Krasniqi’s SEX (pictured), an investigation into the religious controversy set off by a recent Kosovan magazine’s sex-focused edition; Jurij Meden’s KARL MARX AMONG US, described as “agitprop in eight chapters;” Petra Seliškar’s MAMA EUROPA, a personal look at life along various European borders; and Can Candan’s MY CHILD, which profiles the parents of LGBT people in conservative Turkey.

The Sarajevo Film Festival begins its nineteenth edition this Friday, August 16, and runs through Saturday, August 24. The festival is famed for launching in 1995, in the midst of the Bosnian War, while the city was under siege for what ended up being nearly four years. It has long since established itself as the largest film event in the Balkans, drawing notable international attention – and celebrity guests – each year, while also showcasing films from the region, especially shorts. Of its nearly 100 feature presentations this year, more than twenty are nonfiction, centered in its official documentary competition, but also sprinkled throughout other fest sections. The following offers a selection of newer notable titles that caught my eye.

The official doc competition includes eight features and several shorts. Among the former are Juri Rechinsky’s provocative SICKFUCKPEOPLE, following two Ukrainian streetkids facing the very worst of humanity; Diana Groó’s REGINA, the story of the world’s first female rabbi; Marta Popivoda’s YUGOSLAVIA, HOW IDEOLOGY MOVED OUR COLLECTIVE BODY (pictured), an exploration of state ideology through mass public spectacle; and Mladen Kovačević’s UNPLUGGED, a look at the unusual musical art of leaf-playing.

Nonfiction appearing in other sections includes: Bryan Little’s THE AFRICAN CYPHER (pictured), a survey of South African street dance culture; Hinde Boujemaa’s IT WAS BETTER TOMORROW, which follows a poor Tunisian woman in the aftermath of the revolution; Khaled Jarrar’s INFILTRATORS, an immersion into the experiences of Palestinians trying to make their way through the West Bank; and Kaveh Bakhtiari’s STOP-OVER, an insider’s look at migrants in Greece, in limbo as they try to secure passage to other countries.

Among the world’s oldest international film events, the Film Festival Locarno kicks off its 66th edition tonight, running through Saturday, August 17, with a lineup of over 100 features, of which more than forty are documentaries. The Swiss fest, situated just weeks before Venice, Telluride, and Toronto, often showcases an adventurous program, balancing the expected star-driven fare with more challenging discoveries that might normally be relegated to the sidelines at other festivals its size. Its non-fiction offerings appear in virtually every section, from the fest’s signature Piazza Grande massive open-air screenings to its own version of the independently curated Semaine de la critique. The following highlights docs, section-by-section, that have caught my eye: Continue reading →

The 9th annual edition of Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival technically begins tomorrow, Tuesday, July 30, and runs through Sunday, August 4, but “pre-festival” screenings have actually been taking place since Saturday afternoon. The festival offers its audiences the opportunity to experience a wide selection of “just great movies,” representing standouts from larger festivals like Sundance and SXSW, as well as a sampling of brand new films and some retrospectives. Among these are more than forty documentary features, including its Centerpiece slot, Chiemi Karasawa’s ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME, and the following:

Screening as part of the pre-fest “Friends Only” show was the world premiere of Ky Dickens’ SOLE SURVIVOR (pictured), recounting the experiences of people who miraculously survived plane crashes. Also exploring a tragic air accident is Kristina Borjesson’s TWA FLIGHT 800, which investigates claims made by whistleblowers of a cover-up. Robert Greenwald’s WAR ON WHISTLEBLOWERS: FREE PRESS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE takes as its subject the fates facing those who would publicly reveal government wrongdoing.

Other newer or lesser-seen docs appearing at the festival are Ben Anderson’s THIS IS WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE (pictured), about the transition facing Afghanistan as US forces leave the war-torn country to its own security and defense forces; Shosh Shlam and Ada Ushpiz’s GOOD GARBAGE, following Palestinian men and boys as they attempt to support their families by picking through garbage at a Hebron dump; and Jane Gillooly’s SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME, an auditeuristic exploration of a 1960s affair conducted through tape recordings. Finally, of special note is Traverse City’s tribute to Michael Apted with a retrospective screening of all the docs in the UP series.

NYC’s Film Society of Lincoln Center turns the spotlight on music docs in their new Sound + Vision series, which runs this Friday, July 26 through Thursday, August 1. Covering a wide range of topics and approaches, the seventeen feature docs included in the program celebrates musicians as well as the power music has on our lives. Very generally speaking, it’s a genre that doesn’t always immediately strike a chord with me, but I would single out the following highlights:

Among the films that I’ve not had a chance to see yet but have been on my radar: Lily Keber’s BAYOU MAHARAJAH: THE TRAGIC GENIUS OF JAMES BOOKER (pictured), about the man known as the “Black Liberace;” Hark-Joon Lee’s 9 MUSES OF STAR EMPIRE, which follows the making of a K-pop girl group over a year; John Anderson’s BORN IN CHICAGO, the story of a group of middle-class white musicians who were inspired by Mississippi Delta black performers in the 1960s; Olallo Rubio’s GIMME THE POWER, a profile of the successful political activist Mexican band Molotov; and Désirée von Trotha’s WOODSTOCK IN TIMBUKTU: THE ART OF RESISTANCE (pictured), a look at a desert musical festival and its role in uniting the nomadic Touareg people.

Titles that I’ve seen elsewhere that are worth a look include: Jesse Acevedo’s VIVA CUBA LIBRE: RAP IS WAR!, also focuses on the ability of popular music to catalyze protest, through the story of Cuban rap duo Los Aldeanos; Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s Sundance alum MUSCLE SHOALS, on the famed Alabama recording studio; Doug Hamilton’s SXSW alum, BROADWAY IDIOT, on the adaptation of Green Day’s heralded album into a successful Broadway musical; and Bobbi Jo Hart’s I AM NOT A ROCK STAR, an intimate portrait of a gifted young Canadian pianist over eight years.

Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, July 24 and running through Saturday, August 3, NYC’s AsianCinevision presents the 36th edition of the Asian American International Film Festival. The event, the longest-running of its kind in the US, annually celebrates the work of Asian and Asian-American filmmakers. This year, the festival presents more than two dozen features and over forty shorts from eighteen countries, in addition to workshops and other special events. Among its documentary feature offerings are a pair of Sundance alums: Evan Jackson Leong’s LINSANITY, making its East Coast premiere here as the Opening Night film; and Jason DaSilva’s WHEN I WALK, screening as a sneak preview.

Among the other docs on offer are Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s MARILOU DIAZ-ABAYA: FILMMAKER ON A VOYAGE (pictured), an overview of the late Filipino director, whose 1983 KARNAL also screens this year; Hua Tien-hau’s GO GRANDRIDERS, about a Taiwanese senior citizen motorcycle club; Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi’s HAFU: THE MIXED-RACE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN, an exploration of Japanese biracial identity; and Benito Bautista’s HARANA, a search for a lost Filipino courtship tradition.

Latinbeat, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Latin American cinema showcase, begins this Friday, July 12 and runs through Sunday, July 21. For its 14th edition, taking place a month earlier than its typical August berth, the series presents 18 films – hailing from all over the region, from Argentina to Uruguay, Chile to Brazil – of which four are documentaries:

From Colombia, Priscilla Padilla’s THE ETERNAL NIGHT OF TWELVE MOONS (LA ETERNA NOCHE DE LAS DOCE LUNAS) (pictured above) explores an indigenous tradition that keeps young women isolated for a year upon the onset of menstruation; from Guatemala/Mexico, Mercedes Moncada’s MAGICAL WORDS (BREAKING A SPELL) (PALABRAS MÁGICAS (PARA ROMPER UN ENCANTAMIENTO)), a personal reflection of growing up in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution; from Mexico, Emiliano Altuna, Diego Enrique Osorno, and Carlos Rossini’s THE MAYOR (EL ALCALDE), a portrait of a controversial millionaire turned politician who resorts to extreme measures to keep his community safe from the narcotrafficking violence plaguing other parts of the country; and from Argentina/France, Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini’s IMPENETRABLE (EL IMPENETRABLE), following the filmmaker and his brother as they try to explore inherited land in Paraguay, only to be frustrated by unwelcoming neighbors.

Southern California’s largest LGBT film event, Outfest, kicks off its 31st edition this Thursday, July 11. Over eleven nights, the festival will present nearly 60 features, close to 100 shorts, as well as panels and other special events, for an estimated audience of 55,000. Included among the lineup are more then 20 feature documentaries from which I’ll offer highlights below:

Like last year, nonfiction takes two of Outfest’s coveted Gala slots: Roger Ross Williams’ Sundance alum GOD LOVES UGANDA screens as the Documentary Centerpiece, while Pratibha Parmar’s ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH (pictured) takes the Fusion Centerpiece position.

The bulk of the fest’s docs screen in the main program, which includes: Lily Keber’s BAYOU MAHARAJAH: THE TRAGIC GENIUS OF JAMES BOOKER (pictured), a portrait of the unheralded African American gay jazz pianist; Liam Sullivan’s IAN HARVIE SUPERHERO, the trans standup comedian’s concert film; Timothy Wheeler’s THE OTHER SHORE, following lesbian long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad’s attempts to finally swim from Cuba to Key West after a disappointing failed attempt three decades prior; Lisa Biagiotti’s DEEPSOUTH, exploring the inadequacies of HIV/AIDS healthcare in the American South; Fan Popo’s MAMA RAINBOW, a profile of mothers of LGBT kids in China; and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s Tribeca winner BRIDEGROOM, about tragedy befalling a young gay couple.

Finally, Platinum, the experimental and cutting edge section, includes two docs: Travis Mathews and James Franco’s Sundance hybrid, INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., inspired by CRUISING; and Charles Atlas’ TURNING (pictured), a concert film on Antony and the Johnsons’ 2006 European tour.