Coming to NYC this Friday, May 10 and expanding to Los Angeles and beyond next Friday, May 17: STORIES WE TELL
Sarah Polley’s look at mysteries within her own family debuted at Venice last year. Its fest circuit has included Telluride, Toronto, Sundance, True/False, and New Directors/New Films, among others.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Beginning this Wednesday, May 8, and running through the rest of the month, MoMA presents Chinese Realities/Documentary Visions, a retrospective series of nonfiction and nonfiction-inspired film from China. The work reflects changes to the nation’s documentary aesthetics over the past quarter century, which has come hand-in-hand with rapid modernization in the wake of China’s remarkable economic transition. Series curators Sally Berger and Kevin B Lee have assembled examples from as far back as 1988, pre-Tiananmen Square, to brand new work, spanning state-sanctioned productions to underground, independent work – the majority largely unseen by Western audiences outside of some limited festival exposure. In addition to panels, more than two dozen films make up the series, including several fiction films employing documentary strategies as well as hybrid projects. The following highlights a number of the notable documentary selections: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Nonfiction insiders got a sneak peek at a number of upcoming projects during the Hot Docs Forum, running alongside the public festival. My article on the pitches that made a roomful of international commissioning editors take notice is up at Indiewire here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Due to back-to-back travel, I’m woefully behind in my festival roundups – Tribeca is still in the queue and Hot Docs has now joined the to-do list. I plan to catch up over the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime, I contributed to a brief roundup of ten notable Hot Docs selections for Indiewire last week here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction next Tuesday, May 7: PANDORA’S PROMISE
Robert Stone’s compelling re-evaluation of nuclear energy made its premiere at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Since then, it has screened at True/False and Full Frame, as well as at a number of universities.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Note: The screening will be followed with a Q&A with director Stone.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival begins this Friday, May 3, and runs through Sunday, May 12. The 12th annual festival presents more than sixty documentary features, in addition to shorts, panels, and special events. Intended to explore the elasticity of nonfiction, the fest aims to expose local audiences to innovative Canadian and international docs. DOXA opens with Canadian doc OCCUPY THE MOVIE, Corey Ogilvie’s overview of the history of the popular movement, which began in Vancouver; presents a “midweek special” centerpiece screening of Ben Lewis’ Sundance-premiering GOOGLE AND THE WORLD BRAIN; and closes with Ryan White’s SXSW alum GOOD OL’ FREDA. Selections from the rest of the lineup follow: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Wednesday, May 1: MANHUNT: THE SEARCH FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN
Greg Barker’s look at the intelligence community’s long hunt for Al Qaeda’s leader debuted at Sundance earlier this year. It has gone on to screen at True/False, USA, and Full Frame, among others.
I wrote about the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to Bravo for its television debut tonight, Monday, April 29: THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Lauren Greenfield’s exploration of the haves facing the Recession debuted at Sundance last year, picking up the US Documentary Directing Award. It went on to screen extensively, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Provincetown, Karlovy Vary, Traverse City, and IDFA. It enjoyed a limited theatrical release and is available on DVD.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Beginning this Thursday, May 2 and running through Saturday, May 11, DocAviv: The Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary. More than eighty new documentary features, in addition to shorts and retrospective programming, spotlighting a diverse range of both Israeli and international work, will screen during the event, recognized as one of the key doc festivals in the region. It’s on my list of fests I’d love to attend at some point, but, sadly, this year’s not the year. What follows are some highlights of feature docs appearing there that I’d be most interested in viewing: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Cinema Village today, Friday, April 26: AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY
Terence Nance’s meditation on the relationship between a man and a woman debuted at Sundance last year. The hybrid project – neither strictly fiction nor nonfiction – went on to screen at Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Urbanworld, Sundance London, Cleveland, Traverse City, and New Orleans, among many others.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 