Category Archives: Overviews

CPH:DOX, the better-known name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, begins next week and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The festival is the largest doc-specific event in Scandinavia, and has developed a reputation for its broad conception of non-fiction, often including more experimental, art cinema, and hybrid (or even genre-free) work in its impressive line-up. To this point, the festival (in)famously awarded Harmony Korine’s TRASH HUMPERS its grand jury prize back in 2009.

By my count, there are approximately 150 feature-length docs being presented this year, beginning with the controversial THE ACT OF KILLING, by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and Anonymous, which made quite an impression out of both Telluride and Toronto, and opens the festival a couple of days early, on Tuesday, October 30. The closing film, Daniel Dencik’s Greenland adventure voyage, THE EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD (pictured), screens on Friday, November 9 (though the festival continues for two more days, til Sunday, November 11). Though I’ve always been curious about the event, I’ve never made it out to the festival; if I were attending, the following titles would be on my list: Continue reading →

With the tagline “fiercely independent,” the Woodstock Film Festival annually draws from the countercultural spirit and storied musical and artistic history of Woodstock and the Hudson Valley region of upstate New York to present a cross-section of over one hundred films for local area residents and city dwellers looking for a getaway. This year’s event, which begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday, October 14, marks its 13th edition. Close to 60 feature length films will screen, as well as scores of shorts, panels, musical performances, and other special events.

Twenty-five feature docs are part of the lineup, including both the opening film, DEAR GOVERNOR CUOMO…, Jon Bowermaster’s documentation of a musical event/demonstration by New Yorkers against hydrofracking that took place this past May; and the closing night film, CASTING BY (pictured), Tom Donahue’s appreciation and exploration of the craft of the casting director.

Among the festival’s world premieres are a number of docs, including Marco Antonio Orsini’s DINNER AT THE NO-GOS (pictured), detailing what happens when the director and his Muslim producer host dinner parties to talk politics and religion in a number of countries on the US State Department’s Travel Advisory List; Barbara Kopple’s FIGHT TO LIVE, an exploration of the FDA’s drug approval process and the efforts of some to acquire non-FDA approved drugs to manage their incurable conditions; Dan Habib’s WHO CARES ABOUT KELSEY, following a troubled teen as she struggles to graduate from high school; and Rasmus Dinesen’s THE WORLD’S FINEST CHEF, a look at the preparation a renowned chef makes for one of the world’s most prestigious cooking competitions.

Other documentaries screening at Woodstock include Jamie Meltzer’s INFORMANT (pictured), a fascinating insider’s perspective on Katrina activist turned federal informant Brandon Darby; Anton Verstakov’s ROLAN MAKES MOVIES, a portrait of a zero-budget amateur filmmaker in Siberia; Walter Matteson’s PRETTY OLD, profiling the annual MS Senior Sweetheart Pageant and a number of its spry contestants; and Francis Hanly’s MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR REVISITED, about the circumstances behind the production and controversial reception of the Beatles’ film.

The eighth edition of the Camden International Film Festival takes place this Thursday through Sunday, offering up more than thirty documentaries. With the slogan “small towns, big films,” the doc fest signals its intimate appeal – while I’ve yet to make it out, I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews from past filmmaker and industry attendees, who enjoy a getaway from city living to catch up on some of the year’s most notable recent docs and to participate in the Points North Documentary Forum that takes place alongside the festival. Continue reading →

In one week, the 37th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival begins, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees to what is, for many, the true start of awards season. Annually screening close to 300 features, the majority world or international premieres, TIFF provides attendees with an advance look at some of the most eagerly-anticipated titles of the Fall.

I’ll be at the festival for its first half, hoping to see some of the buzzed about fiction offerings, but TIFF’s bounty of non-fiction programming will no doubt dominate my schedule. There are significantly more feature-length docs in the program this year – last year saw just under 40, while this year’s count is closer to 50, not including a few hybrids and retro screenings. Of these, more than half are part of the fest’s dedicated non-fiction section, TIFF Docs (formerly Real to Reel), programmed by Thom Powers, with the remainder represented across a variety of other fest sections. Continue reading →