Coming to PBS’s American Masters tonight, Tuesday, February 21:
MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE
Directors:
Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Black Harvest, RiverRun, Boulder, deadCENTER, Sheffield, DOXA, Montreal Black, Bentonville
About:
An appreciation of the acclaimed poet and author.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan tomorrow, Tuesday, February 21:
THE SETTLERS
Director:
Shimon Dotan
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
New York, DocAviv, IDFA, Biografilm, Sheffield, SF Jewish, Bergen, Heartland
About:
A wide-reaching exploration of the impact of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction tomorrow, Tuesday, February 21:
TICKLED
Directors:
David Farrier and Dylan Reeve
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, Cleveland, Sarasota, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Montclair, Seattle, Sydney, Auckland
About:
Journalists embark on a wild investigation into an online fetish subculture.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, February 20:
UNLOCKING THE CAGE
Directors:
Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Full Frame, Sarasota, Minneapolis/St Paul, Montclair, Visions du Réel, DocAviv, New Zealand, Melbourne, deadCENTER
About:
Animal rights activists champion legal rights for chimpanzees.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to the WORLD Channel’s Reel South this Sunday, February 19:
PRIVATE VIOLENCE
Director:
Cynthia Hill
Premiere:
Sundance 2014
Select Festivals:
True/False, New Orleans, Full Frame, Dallas, Hot Docs, Heartland, Seattle, Human Rights Watch, DOXA
About:
A courageous look at the consequences of domestic violence.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents its annual Film Comment Selects series starting tonight, Friday, February 17. The 17th edition, which runs through Thursday, February 23, presents an eclectic mix of new and retrospective work, including four documentary or hybrid features:
More recent work includes Terrence Malick’s VOYAGE OF TIME (pictured), presented in a shorter, music-focused, ultra-widescreen IMAX version; Wang Bing’s BITTER MONEY, a portrait of migrant Chinese garment workers; and Michał Marczak’s hybrid ALL THESE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, following Polish twentysomethings in their nocturnal adventures. The series also presents a screening of Louis Malle’s 1985 GOD’S COUNTRY, in which the filmmaker visits a farming community in the midst of economic crisis.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD this week:
SONITA
Director:
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
Premiere:
IDFA 2015
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Nantucket, Cleveland, True/False, Montclair, Sydney, AFI Docs, Human Rights Watch
About:
An Afghani teenager dreams of success in hip-hop.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The 14th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival begins tomorrow, Friday, February 17, and runs through Sunday, February 26. Nerly 60 new and recent feature documentaries will screen, in addition to an extensive selection of retrospective programming celebrating the work of Daniel Junge and EyeSteelFilm. Films are presented in more than a dozen thematic strands, some of which noted below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Tomorrow, Thursday, February 16, kicks off the 16th edition of Documentary Fortnight, MoMA’s annual showcase of nonfiction, with Rahul Jain’s Sundance award-winner MACHINES, an observational portrait of Indian factory workers. More than a dozen other recent features will screen before the event wraps on Sunday, February 26, in addition to retrospective work and shorts.
Among the world premieres are Lynne Sachs’ TIP OF MY TONGUE, which gathers a group of friends to reflect on the past fifty years; Lee Breuer’s THE BOOK OF CLARENCE, on one of the founders of the music group The Blind Boys of Alabama; Abigail Child’s ACTS & INTERMISSIONS, an experimental portrait of Emma Goldman; and Sam Wainwright Douglas’s THROUGH THE REPELLENT FENCE: A LAND ART FILM (pictured), about an art installation on the US/Mexico border.
Manuel Abramovich’s SOLAR, about the complicated story behind a messianic Argentine bestseller; and Paul Kaiser, Marc Downie, Ken Jacobs, and Flo Jacobs’ ULYSSES IN THE SUBWAY (pictured), which transforms the sounds of a NYC subway ride into a 3D rendering, both make their North American debuts. NYC premieres include Shahrbanoo Sadat’s hybrid WOLF AND SHEEP, on an Afghan shepherd community; and Jiu-liang Wang’s Sundance alum PLASTIC CHINA, a look at lives intersecting in a Chinese recycling factory.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 14:
THE BAD KIDS
Directors:
Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
True/False, Cleveland, Full Frame, Dallas, Visions du Réel, Hot Docs, DocAviv, and Atlantic
About:
A coming-of-age story set in a high school for at-risk students.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
