Coming to theatres this Friday, July 13: THE IMPOSTER
Bart Layton’s stranger than fiction story of an improbable impersonation premiered at Sundance. Its festival circuit has included Seattle, BAMcinemafest, Edinburgh, and Miami, taking a jury prize at the latter.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s AMC 25 this Friday, July 13 with a national release to follow: FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK & WHITE
Julia Ivanova premiered her portrait of a Ukrainian woman and her more than twenty foster children – most biracial in a racist society – at Sundance last year. The film’s festival circuit has included the Hamptons, Vancouver, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Hot Docs, winning an award at the latter.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Outfest leaves its twenties behind this Summer as Los Angeles celebrates the 30th anniversary of its popular LGBT film festival between July 12-22. Though I haven’t made it to the fest since 2008, it used to be one of my regular stops on the circuit when I ran NewFest, and always impressed me with its professionalism, fun, and ability to draw huge audiences despite being located in the most movie-saturated town in the world. Now that Outfest has entered into partnership with NewFest – something I tried to engineer twice during my tenure – I’m hopeful that both events will be enriched. I’ll sadly miss Outfest again this year, but wanted to wish my colleagues there well and highlight some of their documentary programming. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Celebrating its 10th edition, MoMA’s annual showcase of Brazilian cinema in collaboration with the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Premiere Brazil!, begins next Thursday, July 12 and runs through Tuesday, July 24. More than a dozen films will screen, including a restored print of 1972 classic drama SÃO BERNARDO; a special panel on “Film and Social Change” focused on the favelas; and a special opening night Brazilian music event tied into MoMA Nights summer music series.
The lineup includes four new documentaries: Wagner Novais, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, and Cadu Barcellos’ PEACE IN RIO (5 x PACIFICAÇÃO), a multiperspectival investigation into Rio’s controversial favela “pacification” policy, designed to clear the slums of the drug mafia; Wolney Oliveira’s THE LAST CANGACEIROS (OS ÚLTIMOS CANGACEIROS), in which a 95-year-old patriarch reveals to his unsuspecting family that his wife and he were long ago part of a notorious gang (pictured above); Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla’s LOOK AT ME AGAIN (OLHE PRA MIM DE NOVO), about Silvyo, born a woman, for a time a lesbian, and finally now a man, as he takes a road trip to locate relatives who might help him start a family with his wife; and Eduardo Coutinho’s SONGS (AS CANÇÕES), an exploration of the special connections and meanings songs have in people’s lives.
Time permitting, I hope to have a chance to watch these and post a round-up later this month.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Friday, July 6: CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT
Yung Chang premiered his sports doc/economic commentary at Sundance. It’s gone on to screen at Hot Docs, Sheffield, and Silverdocs, among others. The doc expands to other cities later this month and into August.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Thursday, July 5: THE IMPOSTER
Bart Layton’s gripping investigation into a case of assumed identity made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year. It’s gone on to screen at other notable festivals including Seattle, Edinburgh, BAMcinemafest, and Miami, where it won the grand jury prize.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Premiering on HBO next Monday, July 2: MARINA ABRAMOVIC THE ARTIST IS PRESENT
Matthew Akers premiered his film on the Serbian performance artist’s MoMA retrospective at Sundance this year. The doc went on to pick up an audience award at the Berlinale, and was released theatrically earlier this month.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
One of Europe’s oldest and most respected film festivals, Karlovy Vary, begins its 47th edition this Friday and runs through July 7. Set in a picturesque spa city in the Czech Republic’s Bohemia, the A-list event serves as a mid-Summer launching point for scores of new films, and draws attendees from around the world to the crossroads of Western and Eastern Europe, including 10,000 backpacking students who camp out in a local soccer stadium, watch films all day, and party all night. I attended last year’s festival for Indiewire and had a fantastic time. While I’m unfortunately not returning this year, I have looked through the roughly 180 features in its lineup to identify 35 documentary features. Of these, here are some highlights – films I would check out if I were Europe-bound: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
Yesterday, I posted a link to my Indiewire article on this year’s just-concluded Silverdocs, which included a roundup of ten titles. This post adds nearly a dozen more to wrap up my coverage of the event this year. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Saturday, June 30: CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT
Yung Chang’s exploration of China’s economic and societal changes through the microcosm of boxing had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance. Since then, it’s screened at several other fests, including Hot Docs, Planete Doc, Sheffield, and It’s All True.
My pre-Sundance profile may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
