Category Archives: Film Festivals

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: DARK MONEY

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Eric Phillips-Horst

DARK MONEY
Kimberly Reed reveals the dangerous impact of Citizens United on Montana’s politics.

Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: CRIME + PUNISHMENT

Courtesy of Sundance Institute


CRIME + PUNISHMENT
Stephen Maing chronicles the efforts of whistleblowing police officers to expose a corrupt NYPD.

Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: BISBEE ’17

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jarred Alterman/4th Row Films

BISBEE ’17
Robert Greene confronts a dark episode in a small border town’s history, 100 years later.

Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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2018 Sundance Docs in Focus

The 34th Sundance Film Festival takes place next month, running January 18-28, with a lineup consisting of 121 features, 69 shorts, and 24 installations, performances, AI, and VR experiences.

For the past seven years, I’ve profiled the feature documentary programming in advance of the festival, offering background about the exciting new crop of films. My 2018 lineup focus begins tomorrow with the US Documentary Competition and will continue film-by-film, section-by-section, until I’ve covered the more than 50 nonfiction titles this year, wrapping up just before the festival starts.

Please note that I am not reviewing these films – as a Documentary Programming Associate for Sundance, they are all recommended. These profiles simply include select background about the filmmakers, noting past Sundance projects where applicable, and why readers should seek out the docs, either during the festival or later in the year at other upcoming festivals and/or in release. For a sample, check out last year’s series, which began here.

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Sundance 2018: Additional Feature Programming Announced

This post is a pointer to the fourth lineup announcement for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Additional selections in the Documentary Premieres, Premieres, Spotlight, New Frontier, Midnight, Special Events, and From the Collection sections have just been announced and may be found here.

Previous announcements include the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, NEXT, Documentary Premieres, Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, and Kids sections, Indie Episodic, Special Events, and Shorts, and New Frontier.

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Cinema Vérité 2017 Overview

Festival:
The 11th Cinema Vérité: Iran International Documentary Film Festival

Dates:
December 10-17

About:
This Tehran event offers more than 70 new and recent features, as well as retrospective and shorts programming. Continue reading

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90th Oscars: Best Documentary Feature Shortlist Announced

JANE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the Best Documentary Feature shortlist today. Congratulations to all the filmmakers – in particular all of the Sundance and DOC NYC alumni represented.

I’ve previously written about most of these and hope to cover the remainder before the final nominees are announced on January 23. For now, here is the official shortlist, with links to my previous coverage, where applicable:

ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

CHASING CORAL

CITY OF GHOSTS

EX LIBRIS: THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

FACES PLACES

HUMAN FLOW

ICARUS

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER

JANE

LA 92

LAST MEN IN ALEPPO

LONG STRANGE TRIP

ONE OF US

STRONG ISLAND

UNREST

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In Theatres: QUEST

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, December 8:
QUEST

Director:
Jonathan Olshefski

Premiere:
Sundance 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, New Directors/New Films, Cleveland, RiverRun, Nashville, Ashland, Hot Docs, Dallas, DOXA,

About:
A longitudinal portrait of an African-American family in North Philly.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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Sundance 2018: New Frontier Announced

This post is a pointer to the third lineup announcement for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. This year’s selections in the New Frontier section may be found here.

Already announced are the films in the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, NEXT, Documentary Premieres, Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, and Kids sections, as well as the Indie Episodic, Special Events, and Shorts lineup.

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Dubai 2017: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 14th Dubai International Film Festival

Dates:
December 6-13

About:
The UAE event, one of the premier festivals in the Arab world, showcases approximately 90 features, among them just 17 works of nonfiction, down from a slight uptick in last year’s program. Continue reading

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