Category Archives: Film Festivals

SXSW kicks off tomorrow, Friday, March 7, and runs through Sunday, March 16. Between attending True/False (post to come) and working on programming Nantucket, I have been remiss in highlighting this year’s documentary line-up in any depth. As I’ve noted before, my annual pilgrimage to Austin feels like a rite of Spring, a week of typically warm weather that preps me for the eventual thawing out of a NYC seemingly caught in an endless polar vortex. While I’ll be checking out as many of the offerings, fiction and nonfiction alike, for Nantucket, my heart remains with the latter, so I’m especially interested in the fifty feature docs that are included in this year’s lineup. Selections from each section are highlighted below. Continue reading →

One of my favorite film events of the year, the True/False Film Festival, begins its second decade tomorrow, with its eleventh edition running through the weekend. Just over forty features plus several shorts will screen for the fest’s loyal local Columbia MO audience, as well as the scores of visitors that flock to the event each year. A festival with a distinctive vision, an appreciation for cinematic non-fiction, the organizers also have cultivated a unique approach to the event itself, peppering it with beloved traditions, like the March March Parade, eclectic screening venues, and fun parties. This year, they’ve decided to shake things up even further, revealing several weeks ago that they will be sharing revenue with their featured filmmakers. I’m always excited to head out to the festival, which carefully curates a program of new and recent work, cherry-picking from among the best of Sundance, IDFA, and other events, while offering some secret sneak previews, and, this year notably, a number of world premieres – though they don’t make a big deal about the latter. The following highlights these as well as other works I haven’t already mentioned here before. Continue reading →

Croatia’s ZagrebDox celebrates its first decade beginning this Sunday, February 23, with the documentary fest wrapping up its tenth edition the following Sunday, March 2. Nearly a hundred features screen over the course of the event, representing new and recent docs, as well as a significant number of retrospective works. Amongst its lineup are several titles familiar from the international documentary circuit, already covered here elsewhere, and, more intriguingly, a healthy sampling of national and regional work, much of it spotlighted below: Continue reading →

Montana’s largest film festival, Missoula’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, kicks off its 11th edition tomorrow, Saturday, February 15, and running through Sunday, February 23. Presenting a mix of new films, recent festival favorites, and a healthy dose of retrospective selections, the event has carved a distinctive space for nonfiction in the American West. This year, in addition to its annual Made in Montana sidebar, showcasing local productions like Daniel T Skaggs’ FREELOAD, about modern-day train hoppers; music doc section Sights and Sounds; indigenous showcase; and past fest participants, Encore; the event offers sidebars on comedy docs, wilderness films, and a retrospective on Robert B Weide. Other selections are highlighted below. Continue reading →