Category Archives: Overviews

Opening tomorrow, Tuesday, February 19 and running through Sunday, February 24, Punto de Vista: The International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra holds its eighth edition in Pamplona, Spain. Championing innovation and risk-taking, the festival tends to focus on more formally inventive or rigorous projects, including hybrids, rather than strictly social issue-oriented documentaries. I’ve never attended, but am intrigued by their eclectic programming, and by their commitment to screen some work that might not typically be made at most non-fiction events, such as the work in their avant-garde section, The Central Region. Continue reading →

Coming to BAM for its third edition this weekend, New Voices in Black Cinema offers a showcase for new films exploring the black experience both in the US and internationally. Co-presented with the ActNow Foundation, a film and theatre company that provides a platform for artists of color, the series presents sixteen programs between Friday, February 15 and Monday, February 18.

Among this number are five documentaries, the best known being Ken Burns, David McMahon, and Sarah Burns’ indepth revisitation of criminal injustice in NYC, THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE. Making their NYC premieres are four other docs: Andy Mundy-Castle’s THE FADE (pictured), a week in the lives of four barbers in four distinct environments; Oliver Hardt’s THE UNITED STATES OF HOODOO, a consideration of the influence of traditional African spirituality on American pop culture; Fred Kuwornu’s 18 IUS SOLI, which explores the impact of the Italian law that denies automatic citizenship to Italian-born children of immigrants; and Jason Orr’s epic FUNK JAZZ KAFÉ: DIARY OF A DECADE, an indepth look at the artistic renaissance stemming from Atlanta’s music scene of the 1980s.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Missoula MT’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival opens this Friday, February 15 and runs through Sunday, February 24. Montana’s largest film event, the festival annually features more than a hundred selections and welcomes scores of visiting filmmakers to experience Big Sky Country. While I’ve never attended, I’ve heard glowing reports from those who have, and the event has certainly established itself on the documentary festival circuit. Following are some feature highlights from this year’s edition, which, in addition to screening a robust selection of new films, also includes a retrospective series of films from the fest’s first decade; Resistance,” a thematic grouping of films about social unrest; “Stories from the City,” docs on NYC; sidebars on Montana-made films, seniors, indigenous communities, and art; and a retrospective of Stanley Nelson’s work.

Big Sky’s Feature Competition includes a couple of Sundance alums, including big winner BLOOD BROTHER, as well as 99% – THE OCCUPY WALL STREET COLLABORATIVE FILM, plus DOC NYC alums BETTING THE FARM and THE MOSUO SISTERS. Other titles include the world premiere of Logan Hendricks’ LOVE AT A CERTAIN AGE, focusing on intimacy and relationships among seniors; YOUNG LAKOTA (pictured), Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt’s (THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX) portrait of a college student and her young friend who become involved in reservation politics; Andrew Berends’ DELTA BOYS, an exploration of the struggle of the people of the Niger Delta against their corrupt government; and Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo’s JEPPE ON A FRIDAY, a day-in-the-life of a Johannesburg neighborhood.

The Big Sky Award Competition includes, among other titles, Maxine Trump’s MUSICWOOD, where the future of guitar manufacturing is caught up in a political, economic, and environmental controversy; Brian Lindstrom’s ALIEN BOY: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JAMES CHASSE, an investigation into the death of a schizophrenic man at the hands of Portland OR police; Brian Truglio’s RACING THE REZ (pictured), about rival high school Native American cross-country runners; and Sabrina Lee and Shasta Grenier’s NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT, which explores the healing power of fishing on wounded veterans.

Outside of the competition titles are a mix of a number of recent docs that have been well-represented elsewhere on the festival circuit, as well as others that perhaps may not be as recognizable but are worth a look. Among these are TC Johnstone’s RISING FROM THE ASHES, about the hope engendered by the development of a professional Rwandan cycling team; Red Tremmel’s EXOTIC WORLD, following the efforts of a former dancer to keep her small desert burlesque museum open; Brent Chesanek’s post-apocalyptic hybrid CITY WORLD; Caroline Båcle’s LOST RIVERS, an exploration of now-buried urban waterways; Mike Gualdoni’s DIGNITY HARBOR, a portrait of a homeless community in winter; Mike Scholtz’s WILD BILL’S RUN (pictured), which revisits the unbelievable legend of a snowmobiling outlaw in 1972; and Lindsay Pollock and Sam Lawlor’s THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, the story of Holocaust survivors Thomas and Edith, separated by six decades.

Beginning this Friday, February 15 and running through Monday, March 4, MoMA holds its 12th annual nonfiction series, Documentary Fortnight. In addition to showcasing nearly two dozen new international feature docs, the program includes a selection of short films from Cuba, New Cuban Shorts; a tribute to the pioneering African American gay activist filmmaker Marlon Riggs; and a retrospective of some of the standout films championed by POV over its 25 year existence.

The series opens with two films, Ilian Metev’s Cannes award-winning SOFIA’S LAST AMBULANCE (pictured), which follows one of the few paramedic teams in Bulgaria’s capital; and Chico Pereira’s IDFA award-winning PABLO’S WINTER, a portrait of a cranky old man and the old mining town in which he lives, which I previously wrote about here.

Among other films screening here that I’ve previously written about include: Tinatin Gurchiani’s Sundance award-winning THE MACHINE WHICH MAKES EVERYTHING DISAPPEAR (pictured), a kaleidoscopic portrait of modern-day Georgia; Jose Alvarez’s CANÍCULA, capturing the traditional rituals of a Mexican Totonac village; and Alessandro Comodin’s SUMMER OF GIACOMO, a charming portrait of a pair of young adults.

I’ve also had the chance to see a couple of other films that I’d recommend, but haven’t yet covered here: Michael Grigsby and Rebekah Tolley’s WE WENT TO WAR, an engrossing revisitation of the Vietnam veteran subjects of Grigsby’s 1970 I WAS A SOLDIER; and Christine Turner’s HOMEGOINGS (pictured), a fascinating look at a Harlem undertaker and African American funeral traditions.

Among the titles that I haven’t yet seen and am most curious about are: Sarah J Christman’s AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, a meditation on mortality and ecology; The Otolith Group’s THE RADIANT, a consideration of the past promises and potential future dangers of nuclear power in the wake of Fukushima; Salomé Lamas’ NO MAN’S LAND, in which a mercenary discusses his past deeds with the filmmaker; Ivars Zviedris and Inese Klava’s DOCUMENTARIAN (pictured), a meta-doc on the relationship between an unwanted filmmaker and his reclusive would-be subject; and Marc Schmidt’s MATTHEW’S LAWS, a portrait of the filmmaker’s childhood friend, an autistic man with an elaborate way of trying to make sense of his surroundings.

The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, opens this Thursday, February 7 and runs through Sunday, February 17. Nearly 300 feature length films will screen across more than a dozen different sections, with documentaries making up about a third of that impressive tally.

Despite the at times inhospitable winter weather, the Berlinale has consistently drawn the international film community to experience an expansive selection of world cinema in both the main festival and in its accompanying market, the European Film Market. The vibrant city of Berlin itself is arguably the festival’s greatest asset – but that may be my own bias, as I’ve been in love with the city and its people since I spent part of my junior year of college studying there. It pains me to once again miss the festival after attending regularly for over a decade, but if I were there, the following are among the docs I’d want to check out: Continue reading →

My overview of the world’s largest documentary festival, IDFA, continues in this second post, just in advance of the opening of the fest’s 25th anniversary edition tomorrow evening. Yesterday’s post looked at competition titles; today’s puts the focus on a number of the films in IDFA’s regular, non-competition programs. Continue reading →