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
I spent all of last week in Silver Spring MD attending the 10th anniversary edition of Silverdocs. In addition to curating or appearing on a number of panels in the festival’s accompanying Conference, and serving on the shorts jury, I also covered the event for Indiewire. My roundup, including thoughts on ten titles, may be found here, while I plan to supplement my coverage here later this week with additional titles.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
Coming to POV this Thursday, June 28: GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR
Pamela Yates’ story of how her previous film on Guatemala helped overthrow a dictator made its world premiere at Sundance last year. It later opened the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and enjoyed a limited theatrical release. For its POV engagement, which includes streaming online following the broadcast, Yates had PBS remove the geoblock that typically limits the stream to US and Canada so that it can be accessed around the world. Recognizing the importance of reaching core audiences in Spanish, the film will be streamed in both English and Spanish, and will also include streaming of the prequel film, WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Premiering on HBO this Monday, June 25: ME @THE ZOO_
Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch’s portrait of YouTube celebrity Chris Crocker premiered at Sundance this year. It went on to screen at True/False and Provincetown before its cable broadcast premiere next week.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres this Friday, June 22: THE INVISIBLE WAR
Kirby Dick’s potent investigation into military rape and its cover up had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance, where it walked away with an audience award. Since then the film’s festival circuit has included RiverRun, San Francisco, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles, and others. Its initial theatrical dates include New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Boston.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 19: THE NINE MUSES
John Akomfrah’s experimental melding of THE ODYSSEY and British immigration history premiered at Venice in 2010. It went on to screen at London and Dubai before coming stateside at Sundance in 2011. Additional festival appearances include Sheffield, Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Poland’s New Horizons, and Vancouver.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 