Category Archives: Film Festivals

One of the highlights of American regional film festivals, the Seattle International Film Festival turns 40 tomorrow. Running Thursday, May 15 through Sunday, June 8, and presenting a lineup that includes nearly 200 features, the festival lays claim to being the largest and most attended film events in the US. Among its offerings are 60 documentary features, including several in its Gala section: FINDING FELA, which made its debut at Sundance, and DIOR AND I and KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON, both recent well-received Tribeca premieres. The festival balances a smart curation of other recent festival favorites with an impressive number of new titles. The following focuses primarily on the latter: Continue reading →

The grande dame of film festivals, Cannes, kicks off its 67th edition tomorrow, Wednesday, May 14, while its official side events, the independently organized Directors’ Fortnight and International Critics’ Week, begin Thursday. Altogether, more than 100 features screen, but the non-fiction offerings remain frustratingly slim – this year, thirteen vs 2013’s twelve – once again confirming the Croisette’s view of documentary as an afterthought at best. The following presents a rundown of each film: Continue reading →

DOK.fest Munich opens its 29th edition tonight, Wednesday, May 7. Screening over a hundred titles through next Wednesday, May 14, the festival continues to showcase a broad range of brand new and recent nonfiction work, as well as retrospective programming which includes a selection of Oscar documentaries and the work of celebrated British director Kim Longinotto. What follows are highlights from some of the event’s competitive and non-competitive sections: Continue reading →

Tomorrow, Friday, May 2, sees the start of the 13th edition of DOXA, Vancouver’s documentary film festival, which will continue through Sunday, May 12, presenting more than sixty documentary features in its lineup. The fest is bookended by two films which recently premiered at Tribeca: Orlando von Einsiedel’s VIRUNGA, about the struggle to protect one of Africa’s largest national parks, opens the event, while Brent Hodge’s A BRONY TALE, a new film about the MY LITTLE PONY male fan subculture, brings it to a close. The following offers select highlights from the rest of the programming:

Social issue docs are grouped under the Justice Forum heading, which returns to DOXA for the fifth year, and includes: Dennis Allen’s CRAZYWATER, a personal exploration of Native American substance abuse; Alexander John Glustrom’s BIG CHARITY (pictured), about the fate of a New Orleans hospital in the wake of Katrina; Jesper Wachtmeister’s MICROTOPIA, on the emergence of space conserving urban design; and Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott’s MASSACRED FOR GOLD, a chronicle of the murder of Chinese gold miners in the Pacific Northwest of 1887.

Other notable newer or recent features include several character portraits: Adam Gray and Andrew Gray’s FLY COLT FLY: LEGEND OF THE BAREFOOT BANDIT, a partly animated hybrid about the infamous outlaw Colton Harris-Moore; Shen Jie’s LITTLE PROLETARIAN, about a fourteen-year-old Chinese juvenile delinquent; La Zha’s HUHU (pictured), a child-focused portrait of rural life for a Chinese Muslim ethnic group; Rosa Rogers’ CASABLANCA CALLING, which follows female Muslim leaders combatting misogyny in Morocco; Sara Rastegar’s MY RED SHOES, an autobiographical portrait of the filmmaker’s parents, former Iranian Marxist revolutionaries; and Menna Laura Meijer’s 69: LOVE SEX SENIOR, which candidly explores sexuality among the older set.

Finally, a number of DOXA’s selections capture places, such as: Bo Wang’s CHINA CONCERTO, a meditation on China’s unique approach to capitalism and consumption; Carl Javér’s FREAK OUT!, about an early 20th century Utopian community in Switzerland; Florent Tillon’s LAS VEGAS MEDITATION, an anthropological survey of the Recession-era Nevadan desert city; Jide Tom Akinleminu’s PORTRAIT OF A LONE FARMER, a profile of the Nigerian filmmaker’s family farm; and Marcos Pimentel’s BREATH (pictured), an observational portrait of a rural Brazilian community.

Nyon, Switzerland’s Visions du Réel launches its 45th edition today, Friday, April 25, and runs through Saturday, May 3. One of the longest-running nonfiction events in the world, the fest presents over 100 new and retrospective features, in addition to shorts, masterclasses, and other special events. The following offers highlights from each programming strand: Continue reading →

Kicking off today, Thursday, April 24, the San Francisco International Film Festival holds the distinction of being the longest-running film festival of the Americas. The 57th edition runs through Thursday, May 8, bringing more than 100 features, plus shorts, panels, and other signature programming to the Bay Area. Among these are nearly 30 feature docs, representing a smartly curated mix of festival favorites, as well as several titles making their premieres. The following offers brief highlights: Continue reading →