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
Category Archives: Film Festivals
ZagrebDox 2014 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: MUSCLE SHOALS
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, February 25: MUSCLE SHOALS
Greg “Freddy” Camalier’s tribute to the influential Alabama recording studios had its world premiere at Sundance last year. 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 doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Special Screening: THE STUART HALL PROJECT
Coming to NYC’s BAM as part of the BAMcinématek series on the Black Audio Film Collective next Monday, February 24: THE STUART HALL PROJECT
John Akomfrah’s profile of the recently departed influential British cultural theorist made its debut at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, DOXA, Leeds, Torino, CPH:DOX, and African Diaspora, among other events.
My pre-Sundance profile on the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On VOD: THE MOO MAN
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 18: THE MOO MAN
Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier’s day in the life of a British dairy farm made its world premiere at Sundance last year. It went on to screen at Berlin, Sheffield, True/False, and Los Angeles, and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. The doc now becomes available on iTunes.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2014 Overview
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
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Documentary Fortnight 2014 Overview
The 13th edition of MoMA’s annual intersection of nonfiction film and art, Documentary Fortnight, begins this Friday, February 14 and runs through Friday, February 28. Twenty new or recent features screen, in addition to shorts, retrospective programming, and an installation, representing twenty countries.
Kicking off the series is Gonçalo Tocha’s THE MOTHER AND THE SEA (pictured), an ethnographic study of Portuguese fisherwomen. Also explicitly focused on women is Xu Huijing’s MOTHERS, about the personal impact of China’s one-child policy on a small rural community, while another coastal setting is the subject of Kelvin Kyung Kun Park’s A DREAM OF IRON, an exploration of Korean industrialization and the divine in the seaside city of Ulsan. Korea also figures in Kim Dong-ryung and Park Kyoung-tae’s TOUR OF DUTY, which revisits an abandoned US military outpost and its notorious red light district.
Expressly political subject matter may be found in Kazuhiro Soda’s CAMPAIGN 2 (pictured), which follows an anti-nuclear Japanese city council election campaign in the aftermath of Fukushima; Victor Kossakovsky and students’ DEMONSTRATION, chronicling the 2012 anti-austerity mass protests in Spain; Peter Snowdon’s THE UPRISING, which imagines a pan-Arab revolution using footage from six Arab Spring nations; and the world premiere of Naeem Mohaiemen’s short AFSAN’S LONG DAY (THE YOUNG MAN WAS, PART 2), an exploration of the connections between German and Bangladesh political activism.
Other films screening include Vitaly Mansky’s PIPELINE (pictured), tracing the communities connected along an oil pipeline between Siberia and Europe; Duncan Campbell’s IT FOR OTHERS, a rumination on cultural commodification; and Amit Dutta’s THE SEVENTH WALK, a study of the work of an Indian abstract painter.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
On DVD: THE SUMMIT
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, February 11: THE SUMMIT
Nick Ryan’s revisitation of a mountaineering tragedy had its world premiere at the 2012 BFI London fest. It came stateside at Sundance last year, winning the World Cinema editing award, and went on to screen at Sundance London, New Zealand, ActionFest, Boulder, Seattle, Melbourne, Dublin, Vancouver, and Sheffield, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On DVD: PUSSY RIOT – A PUNK PRAYER
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, February 11: PUSSY RIOT – A PUNK PRAYER
Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s look at the famed Russian activist group had its world premiere at Sundance last year, taking home a special jury prize. It went on to screen at True/False, SXSW, Hot Docs, Sydney, and Full Frame, among others, before its broadcast on HBO.
I profiled the film pre-Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Berlin 2014: Documentary Overview
The Berlin International Film Festival opens its 64th edition tomorrow, Thursday, February 6, unspooling approximately 400 films through Sunday, February 16 for audiences of over 300,000 in one of the best cities in the world. Just over 70 new feature documentaries appear in the lineup, while other nonfiction-related programming includes the Meet the Docs initiative in the concurrent European Film Market, featuring panels, consultations, meetings, and networking opportunities for accredited filmmakers and industry; and targeted mentorship sessions for ten international directors in the Berlinale Talents. While I’m once again not attending, the following offers highlights of the documentary film offerings that are most intriguing: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: CUTIE AND THE BOXER
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 4: CUTIE AND THE BOXER
Zachary Heinzerling’s look at marriage, compromise, and art had its world premiere at Sundance a year ago, where he won the doc directing award. It went on to screen at True/False, San Francisco, Tribeca, and Karlovy Vary, among others, and to be nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
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