Coming to DVD next Tuesday, May 15: MY PERESTROIKA
Robin Hessman’s look at last generation of Soviet Russians made its premiere at Sundance in 2010. It has screened extensively at festivals all around the world since, including New Directors/New Films, Full Frame, Hot Docs, Doha tribeca, Pusan, Camden, RIDM, Sheffield, and Rotterdam. The film screened on POV and also enjoyed a limited theatrical release last year.
I wrote about the film before its release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Though I had a shorter visit in Toronto for Hot Docs than I usually do, and had to balance covering the Forum with fulfilling my duties as a juror for the Canadian Spectrum, I managed to find enough time to watch quite a lot of films – enough to warrant at least three separate posts. Today’s will cover a selection of films from my competition section as well as a few from the music- and art-focused Next section. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, May 15: WE WERE HERE
David Weissman’s moving look at the early days of AIDS in San Francisco made its world premiere at Sundance last year. Well received on the festival circuit, it enjoyed a theatrical release and made Oscar’s documentary shortlist.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
A major non-public side of Hot Docs is the accompanying Hot Docs Forum, a gathering of international commissioning editors and funders, and the filmmakers who are eager to get their support. My article about the best pitches presented at this year’s event is up at Indiewire here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
This post wraps up my coverage of Tribeca documentaries, covering a number of titles from the festival’s Spotlight and Viewpoints sections. Combined with the previous roundups, and films covered at other festivals, I managed to write about thirty-one of the thirty-nine feature docs in this year’s lineup. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
In this second of three Tribeca roundup posts, I offer brief thoughts on a number of documentaries in the festival’s Spotlight, Viewpoints, and Tribeca Talks sections. For films in the World Documentary Competition and Special Screenings, see my earlier post. One final post will follow with additional docs from Spotlight and Viewpoints not covered below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
NYC’s Tribeca wrapped up its eleventh edition this weekend, announcing a number of jury and audience awards over the past few days, including: Best New Documentary Director to WAVUMBA (pictured), Best Documentary Editing to THE FLAT, Best Documentary Feature to THE WORLD BEFORE HER, Tribeca (Online) Best Feature to ON THE MAT, and Documentary Audience Award to BURN. I offer my thoughts below on the first two, and will hold off on writing about WORLD until after Hot Docs, since it is part of the competition there for which I am a juror. Unfortunately, I missed BURN, but will address MAT in the second part of my Tribeca coverage in the next day or so – this post covers the World Documentary Competition and Special Screenings, while the next will look at documentaries in the Spotlight, Viewpoints, and Tribeca Talks sections. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
This post wraps up my overview of docs that have caught my eye in this year’s Hot Docs, one of the largest and most influential non-fiction events in the world. I’ll be heading up to Toronto on Tuesday, and the following, together with those noted in my earlier post are docs I’m hoping to see: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
I could have sworn I had already written my overview for North America’s largest documentary event, Hot Docs’, but as with last year, April just became so busy between Tribeca and advising my students on the Wallabout Film Festival that I’m finding myself “previewing” the festival on its opening day. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s Film Forum today, Wednesday, April 25: PAYBACK
Jennifer Baichwal’s expansive exploration of debt, based on Margaret Atwood’s essay, premiered in competition at Sundance earlier this year. In addition to ongoing festival engagements, the film expands from its two-week Film Forum release with bookings in the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Denver, and elsewhere in May and June.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 