Category Archives: Overviews

Running tomorrow, July 4 through Saturday, July 13, the Jerusalem Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary. Long established as one of the region’s key film events, the festival annually showcases a broad range of both international and new Israeli productions. More than 40 documentary features and hybrids are included in this year’s lineup, appearing in a standalone competition as well as in various other sections of the festival. The following spotlights a few select titles:

Among the ten local titles vying for the main documentary awards are: Ilan Moskovich and Dan Bronfeld’s APOLLONIAN STORY, about a father and son, and the elaborate cave in which they live; Nurit Kedar and Yaron Shani’s LIFE SENTENCES, on the different paths taken by the children of a Jewish woman and an Arab father discovered to be a terrorist; Nissim Mossek’s WILD WEST HEBRON, which finds the tables turned on a German convert to Judaism turned militant settler; Itamar Alcalay’s FOUR YEARS OF NIGHT (pictured), following a photographer as he revisits the French neo-Nazi gang he documented thirty years ago; and Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia’s ELECTRONIC HEROIN, an up-close look at the treatment for China’s Internet “addicts.”

Other Israeli titles screening include: Irit Gal’s THE FADING VALLEY, an exposé of the embattled Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley; Nurith Aviv’s ANNONCES, in which women offer their own interpretations of holy scripture; and Helen Yanovsky’s JERUSALEM BOXING CLUB (pictured), presented as a work-in-progress, about a bomb shelter turned gym that unites and inspires youth. Finally, from outside Israel in the fest’s Jewish Experience strand is Diana Groo’s REGINA, recounting the life of the first modern female rabbi, who perished at Auschwitz in 1944.

The 24th edition of the International Film Festival-Marseille, commonly known as FID Marseille, begins this Tuesday, July 2 and runs through Monday, July 8. Historically, the event was an exclusively non-fiction festival, but that changed about five years ago when the organizers began to screen fiction work as well, part of a shift in philosophy that aims to break down the differences between the two, champion all film as cinema, and embrace the idea that both forms are equally constructed by filmmakers. This, combined with the festival’s often labyrinthine program notes, sometimes makes it hard to determine what is and is not what most would consider a traditional documentary – clearly part of the festival’s overall point. That said, the following spotlights the new non-fiction (and potentially a few hybrids) that sound most intriguing to me.

The International and French Competitions include several world premieres, including: Travis Wilkerson’s LOS ANGELES RED SQUAD: THE COMMUNIST SITUATION IN CALIFORNIA, an exploration of the LAPD’s hunt for communists in the early part of the 20th century; Dora Garcia’s THE JOYCEAN SOCIETY (pictured), about a group of James Joyce amateur scholars; José Luis Torres Leiva’s TO SEE AND TO HEAR, following blind and deaf people as they teach one another how to communicate; and Pierre Creton’s SUR LA VOIE, an observational road movie following two men on separate, but intersecting, paths. Among doc competition entries having their international premieres are Gerardo Naumann and Nele Wohlatz’s RICARDO BÄR, a portrait of an Argentinian village constructed as a film within a film; and João Vladimiro’s LACRAU, an experimental, observational movement away from the city.

Outside of its competitions, FID Marseille’s Parallel Screens offers five sections – this year very loosely inspired by Pasolini’s oeuvre, which is presented in a large retrospective here. Among the newer work are: Pilar Arcila’s COSTEL’S PENDULUM, a portrait of Europe through the experiences of a Romanian Roma and his family; Gereon Wetzel’s CASA PARA TODOS, a meditation on what’s been wrought from Spain’s disastrous real estate speculation; Graeme Thomson and Silvia Maglioni’s IN SEARCH OF UIQ (pictured), an essay on Félix Guattari’s unfilmed sci-fi project; and Salomé Lamas’ NO MAN’S LAND, a character study of a Portuguese mercenary.

The festival also holds a number of Special Screenings, including partnerships with various organizations and associations. Among these is a series of selections in collaboration with DocAlliance: André Gil Mata’s CAPTIVE, exploring the relationship between a woman and the home she occupied for all of her 91 years; Axel Salvatori-Sinz’s THE SHEBABS OF THE YARMOUK, about the close-knit friends who grew up in a Syrian Palestinian refugee camp; and Klára Tasovská and Lukás Kokes’ FORTRESS (pictured), on the unrecognized sovereign state of Transnistria.

Nearing in on its half-century, Karlovy Vary, set in a beautiful Bohemian spa town in the Czech Republic, launches its 48th edition festival this Friday. The event is among the highest ranked competitive festivals by FIAPF, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations – colloquially referred to as an “A”-list festival – in the ranks of Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Locarno, among other European powerhouses. Its geographic location allows it to serve as a bridge between Western and Eastern Europe cinema, while its position on the calendar allows it to launch new films outside of the shadow of Cannes and before the busy late Summer/early Fall festivals. Its setting and the weather also serve as a great excuse for a party, as thousands of university students annually backpack to the event to watch some films and drink until the wee hours of the night. With upwards of 180 features in the lineup, it’s easy to see how the event takes over the town, drawing not only students, but a large industry presence as well. While I won’t be attending, the following highlights some of the nearly 40 nonfiction or hybrids that will be screening this year: Continue reading →

Beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, June 19 and running through Sunday, June 30, the Edinburgh International Film Festival takes over Scotland’s capital city for its 67th edition. It’s the event’s second year under the stewardship of Artistic Director Chris Fujiwara. After the departure of the popular Hannah McGill in 2010, who had led the festival since 2006, Edinburgh suffered a critical lashing for a couple of editions presented without an artistic director until Fujiwara took over last year to set the ship aright. Out of the nearly 150 films screening this year, approximately 40 are documentary features or hybrids. Some highlights are included below: Continue reading →

Turning 37 this year, San Francisco’s Frameline is the undisputed daddy of US LGBT film festivals, annually offering the newest crop of US and international queer films for its large and loyal local audience, as well as for the scores of fest programmers and film fans that come from far afield to sample the “gay Cannes.” Beginning this Thursday, June 20, and running through Sunday, June 24 – always coinciding with the end of SF’s gay pride celebration – the festival will present more than 35 feature documentaries among its more than hundred selections, including the gala Centerpiece slot, Sundance alum VALENTINE ROAD. Among the other docs that Frameline’s expected 60,000 attendees can check out are the following: Continue reading →

For a decade, Silver Spring MD has played host to Silverdocs, one of the country’s signature nonfiction festivals. Back in April, organizers revealed that the event, formerly a co-presentation of AFI and Discovery, would be rebranded as AFI Docs, gaining a new presenting sponsor in Audi, and shifting its focus to DC proper (though still maintaining the AFI Silver Theatre in its original location as a secondary venue). While the move means a leaner festival – two fewer days, about half the number of films, and the reduction of its multi-day Conference to one day of Catalyst Sessions – it’s a welcome change, positioning the event in the heart of the nation’s government, with the potential of making direct connections between policymakers, films, and their issues. The eleventh edition of the fest showcases 45 features and two shorts programs, beginning this coming Wednesday, June 19, and running through Sunday, June 23. The following offers a rundown of selected offerings: Continue reading →

In only five years, the BAMcinemaFest has established itself as one of New York City’s key events showcasing the best new film discoveries of the year. It developed from an earlier series, Sundance at BAM, that brought a selection of films from the tastemaking American independent festival to the BAM Rose Cinemas for a few years. After that initiative ran its course, BAM expanded their scope, curating a program from not only Sundance, but other notable cinema events, with an occasional premiere all their own to fill their limited, and much-coveted, slots. This year’s program includes 25 feature presentations, of which eight are documentaries, all making their NYC premieres, and many by local filmmakers. I’ve already written about them all in my coverage of other festivals, which I’ll link to below:

From Sundance, BAM is highlighting Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s AFTER TILLER (pictured), an artfully restrained portrait of late-term abortion providers; Roger Ross Williams’ GOD LOVES UGANDA, a provocative exploration of the influence of ultra-conservative American evangelists on African culture and politics; and Lucy Walker’s THE CRASH REEL, a moving profile of how traumatic brain injury effected competitive snowboarder Kevin Pearce and his family.

Offerings which premiered at SXSW earlier this year include that fest’s doc grand jury prize winner, Ben Nabors’ WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL (pictured), the inspirational story of a young Malawian teenager who taught himself how to build a windmill to provide power for his struggling family; and Malcolm Ingram’s CONTINENTAL, exploring the history of the legendary gay baths at the Ansonia Hotel, which famously launched the career of Bette Midler.

The fest’s remaining docs premiered at True/False and Full Frame. From the former come Nick Betgen’s NORTHERN LIGHT (pictured), a lyrical observational study of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the community’s involvement in an annual snowmobile race; and Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq’s THESE BIRDS WALK, a breathtaking immersion into the lives of Pakistani runaways. From the North Carolina doc fest, BAM is presenting Farihah Zaman and Jeff Reichert’s REMOTE AREA MEDICAL, an eye-opening look at America’s health care crisis, as seen through the services provided by a free annual pop-up clinic set up on a NASCAR speedway in Tennessee.

Brooklyn’s Northside Festival returns for its fifth year beginning tomorrow, Thursday, June 13 and running through Thursday, June 20. Showcasing music since its inception, it expanded to include film in its second year, and ideas in its third – now referred to as NExT (entrepreneurship x technology) – becoming a local, smaller SXSW in the process. The film program doesn’t begin until Monday, but runs through the end of the fest, and presents about two dozen features, with nearly half being docs, as well as a number of shorts. Continue reading →

The 19th edition of the Los Angeles Film Festival begins this Thursday, June 13 and runs through Sunday, June 23. Film Independent’s annual event serves as a platform for both higher-profile Summer fare and the best of new and recent independent productions. Its features lineup includes more than two dozen documentaries, presented in a standalone competition as well as throughout the remaining sections of the festival, including the Galas, which sees the world premiere of Doug Pray’s LEVITATED MASS: THE STORY OF MICHAEL HEIZER’S MONOLITHIC SCULPTURE, about the transportation and reactions to the LACMA exhibition. While it remains a festival that I’ve never attended, I always take note of the docs making their debut here. The following offers some highlights by programming section: Continue reading →

For 24 years, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival has presented a selection of films that explore various human rights issues around the world. Taking place in several cities between January and March each year, including Washington DC, Toronto, London, San Francisco, and Zurich, as well as a traveling event, the festival’s signature event has been its annual June NYC series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. This year’s event opens this Thursday, June 13 and runs through Sunday, June 23, showcasing more than 20 films – all but two documentaries – that highlight key themes, including Journalism, explored in the opening night film, WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? Other themes include: Continue reading →