Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 8: THE MASK YOU LIVE IN
Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s exploration of the impact of gender stereotypes debuted at Sundance last year. Other fest appearances include Cinequest, Minneapolis-St Paul, Napa Valley, Las Vegas, St Johns International Women’s, and Berkshire.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, March 8: WE COME AS FRIENDS
Hubert Sauper’s meditation on African neo-colonialism made its bow at Sundance in 2014, winning a special jury award. Screening berths followed at Berlin, New Directors/New Films, BAFICI, Istanbul, San Francisco, Durban, Dokufest, Rio, Busan, London, Jihlava, CPH:DOX, IDFA, and Traverse City, among many others. The film was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar in 2015.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 4: TRAPPED
Dawn Porter’s look at the impact of abortion regulation debuted at Sundance, where it won a special jury award. The doc will also screen at the upcoming SXSW and Miami in addition to community screenings around the country. The film is timely, as the Supreme Court hears arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The Tribeca Film Festival has just announced the films in its Narrative Competition sections, now split along US and International lines, World Documentary Competition, and Viewpoints sections. Features screening in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special sections will be announced next week. Today’s films represent more than half of the anticipated 101 features in this year’s 15th annual festival, including the 23 documentaries noted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
Columbia MO’s popular True/False Film Festival celebrates its lucky 13th edition beginning tomorrow, Thursday, March 3, presenting approximately forty new feature documentaries before it wraps on Sunday, March 6. As ever, the event’s lineup offers a carefully curated selection of recent highlights from larger events like IDFA, Toronto, Berlin, and Sundance, as well as a handful of debuts and “secret screenings” of titles that will make their official premieres at other fests in the coming months (and which attendees promise not to reveal publicly). A can’t miss stop on my festival circuit, I’m most looking forward to catching the following new titles over the weekend: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 1: SOUTHERN COMFORT
Kate Davis’ profile of a transgender man contending with love and mortality had its world premiere at Sundance in 2001, where it won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. The film’s festival circuit included Berlin, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Karlovy Vary, Yamagata Doc, Athens, and several LGBT events. STF re-presents the film – which has been adapted into a musical at the Public Theater – on the occasion of its 15th anniversary.
While transgender lives and characters are increasingly becoming more commonplace in mainstream media, that certainly hasn’t always been the case. Davis’ acclaimed film serves as a reminder that even as relatively recently as 2001, the general public was not used to seeing the stories of transgender subjects. Davis introduced mainstream audiences to Robert, a 52-year-old cowboy in the backwoods of Georgia, as he faces the end of his life due to ovarian cancer – a diagnosis that is followed by rejection after rejection from doctors unwilling to take a trans man as a patient. He draws strength through his intense, new relationship with Lola, a transgender woman, and hopes to accompany her to the Southern Comfort Conference, the country’s largest gathering of trans people. Davis constructs an intimate portrait of indelible individuals, who, already having risked everything to live their truth, face the greatest challenge of them all.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan as part of their CineMatters series tonight, Tuesday, February 23: MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
Greg Whiteley’s appraisal of alternative education models debuted at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at Tribeca, AFI Fest, Montclair, Cleveland, Seattle, Sarasota, Dallas, and Sun Valley, among other events.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, February 22: BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS
Douglas McGrath’s appreciation of the acclaimed director’s early years had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 22: (T)ERROR
Lyric R Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s surprising inside look at a counterterrorism informant made its bow at Sundance last year, where it won a special jury award. Screenings followed at Nantucket, True/False, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Full Frame, Nashville, and Human Rights Watch, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Croatia’s ZagrebDox launches its 12th edition this Sunday, February 21 and runs through next Sunday, February 28. More than 160 new and retrospective features and shorts will screen as part of the event, the nation’s largest documentary showcase. While much of this includes local debuts of films that are already well-traveled on the international festival circuit, the festival also affords the opportunity to view new regional work, a sampling of which is provided below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
