Hot Docs opens its 21st edition tonight, Thursday, April 24, and runs through Sunday, May 4. With nearly 150 new feature-length docs, plus more than a dozen retrospective selections, the festival is the largest nonfiction event in North America, drawing filmmakers, industry, and an impassioned audience to Toronto each year. I’ll be attending again, though my Nantucket duties have meant that I’ll only be at the festival for its final weekend, unfortunately missing the event’s corresponding Forum earlier in the week. While this means I’ll only manage to see a fraction of the fest’s offerings, the following provides a section-by-section run-down of the new titles that have most intrigued me: Continue reading
Category Archives: Film Festivals
Hot Docs 2014 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 25: WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
Marc Silver’s microcosmic exploration of immigration had its world premiere as a Day One film at Sundance last year, where it claimed the World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, San Sebastian, San Diego Latino, Abu Dhabi, Cork, Zurich, Rome, Miami, and the New York Film Festival, among several others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Nantucket 2014: Features Lineup Announced
I’m excited to share this pointer to the Features line-up announcement for the Nantucket Film Festival, where I joined the staff as Film Program Director at the beginning of the year. I’ve been working since then to secure these films, which are nearly evenly split between fiction and nonfiction. Announcements about our Shorts and additional Signature Programs will follow in the coming weeks, and the festival’s 19th edition will take place June 25-30.
Following is the list of features. For descriptions, check out the link above: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On TV: MUSCLE SHOALS
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens today, Monday, April 21: MUSCLE SHOALS
Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s look back at the influence of the Alabama sound debuted last year at Sundance. It went on to screen at SXSW, Nantucket, Atlantic, Melbourne, Seattle, Maui, Nashville, and Hot Docs, where it won an Audience Award.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
In Theatres: CESAR’S LAST FAST
Coming to NYC’s Quad Cinema today, Friday, April 18: CESAR’S LAST FAST
Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee’s tribute to Cesar Chavez’s life and mission had its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year. Additional berths have included Atlanta, Chicago Latino, San Diego Latino, Minneapolis St Paul, and the upcoming San Francisco, DOXA, and new Ambulante California fests.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On VOD: GOD LOVES UGANDA
Out on VOD this week: GOD LOVES UGANDA
Roger Ross Williams’ investigation of the evangelical influence on anti-gay African laws had its world premiere at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Nantucket, New Orleans, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Cleveland, AFI Docs, Hamptons, BAMcinemaFest, and Outfest, among many others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On DVD: PICTURE OF LIGHT
Newly re-released on DVD this week: PICTURE OF LIGHT
Peter Mettler’s meditation on the Northern Lights made its debut in 1994. Its impressive roster of festival appearances includes Sundance, Toronto, Rotterdam, Locarno, Yamagata, Hot Docs, Chicago, and San Francisco. First Run Features re-releases the DVD simultaneously with Mettler’s latest doc, THE END OF TIME.
Over the course of two trips to the Canadian Arctic, Mettler and his team attempt to capture the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis on celluloid, contending with the extreme weather conditions and meeting a number of quirky local characters along the way. The latter lend the film most of its appeal, such as the oddball hotel owner who shoots a hole in the wall of one of his rooms to encourage the formation of snow drifts inside the building. That’s not to say the footage of the Northern Lights isn’t impressive – Mettler presents them in time-lapse, a symphony of light, color, and movement – but, as signaled by its title, the film is less about the actual celestial display, and more about questions around photographing them. As with his new film, Mettler here employs a mix of nonfiction approaches, though privileges the essay form as he contemplates the impact of media and technology on our active engagement with the world and its wonders – musings which take on even greater significance in our ultra-connected, social media-focused present.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On DVD/VOD: INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR.
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, April 15: INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR.
James Franco and Travis Mathews’ hybrid revisitation of William Friedkin’s CRUISING premiered at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Berlin, Hot Docs, Rotterdam, Cleveland, Seattle, Frameline, NewFest, Outfest, Mix Brasil, and Russia’s Side By Side, among many others.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Tribeca 2014: Documentary Overview
The Tribeca Film Festival opens its 13th edition tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, and runs through Sunday, April 27. Nonfiction programming remains a highlight for the event, with 45 docs once again making their Gotham bow across the range of the festival’s programming strands, including the Galas, such as opening night film, One9’s TIME IS ILLMATIC, on the impact of Nas’ 1994 debut album. The following section overview notes a selection of new docs making their premiere during the festival: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Art of the Real 2014 Overview
Tomorrow, Friday, April 11 sees the opening of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s inaugural edition of Art of the Real, an expansion of the institution’s former monthly documentary series into a two-week showcase which aims to explode conceptions of nonfiction to boundary-pushing extremes through new and retrospective programming. Curated by the Film Society’s Dennis Lim and independent programmer Rachael Rakes, the series presents more than 50 docs and hybrid projects through Saturday, April 26, opening with Raya Martin and Mark Peranson’s LA ÚLTIMA PELÍCULA and Corneliu Porumboiu’s THE SECOND GAME, and closing with Robert Greene’s ACTRESS (pictured). The following highlights offer a look at other selections: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
