Coming to DVD next Tuesday, March 27: CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL
Alex Stapleton’s portrait of a truly indie producer premiered at Sundance last year before appearing at Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Deauville, Pusan, and the New York Film Festival. It had a limited theatrical release this past Winter.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Yesterday I returned from five nights in Greece, where I attended the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival for the first time. I wrote about the event at more length for Indiewire here and highlighted a number of docs in progress presented at the event here. Since I didn’t write about too many specific films in Iw, my usual fest roundup of films watched will be covered here for the Greek films and in another post later this week for the international selections. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 20: !WOMEN ART REVOLUTION
Lynn Hershman Leeson spent four decades documenting US feminist art, premiering the film at Toronto in 2010, followed by Sundance the next year. In addition to numerous festival screenings, it was included in MoMA’s “The Contenders” series and also received a limited theatrical run last Summer.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
The 41st edition of New Directors/New Films, a co-presentation of the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, begins next Wednesday, March 21 and runs through Sunday, April 1.
As always, ND/NF is a tightly curated showcase of international emerging talent – the series consists of 29 features and 12 shorts from 28 countries. There are only four feature docs included, but of the three that I’ve already seen (Sundance titles), they represent some of the strongest, most provocative non-fiction work of the past few months:
I haven’t yet seen the fourth film, Anca Damian’s CRULIC: THE PATH TO BEYOND, from Romania, which has already picked up awards at CPH:DOX, Locarno, and Warsaw.
While not technically a doc in its final form, a fifth film, another Sundance alumnus, Terence Nance’s AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY, has its origins in non-fiction, and utilizes documentary strategies to tell its winning story about love and desire.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
My last post on this year’s SXSW included my brief thoughts on the features I saw in the Documentary Competition and Emerging Visions sections. Today’s wraps up with profiles of eleven additional films from various other fest sections. Once again, I unfortunately wasn’t able to fit in all the titles I wanted to see, including GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, LOST AND SOUND, THE WILL, and DREAMS OF A LIFE. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
While the torrential downpours of the first few days made for a much different SXSW than I’ve been used to, Austin needed the rain, so I tried not to complain too much, and it was still a great fest. Despite leaving a day earlier than usual in order to attend the second half of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, I managed to see a nice chunk of the films on my wishlist while in town, enough for a couple of posts. In this one, I’m including my thoughts on the Competition and Emerging Visions titles I was able to catch, while the next post will cover Documentary Spotlight, 24 Beats Per Second, SX Global, and Festival Favorites. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
This month, I’m excited to be attending the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival for the first time. I’ll be leaving SXSW after its first half to catch the second half of the Greek festival, making for a packed couple of weeks. It’s been far too many years since I’ve been to Greece – the homeland of both of my parents – and the first time I’ve attended a film event there. The tight timing unfortunately means I won’t have a chance to visit relatives in Athens, putting me in the doghouse with them, but so it goes.
Thessaloniki’s documentary fest, part of the same organization that puts together the larger non-doc specific event in the Fall, opens tomorrow, March 9 and runs through the 18th. Its 14th edition, under the theme “Images of the 21st Century, presents a staggering 185 films – features and shorts – under eight sections plus an additional six special programs. I’m covering the festival for Indiewire and looking forward to sampling as many of the offerings as possible. Following is a section-by-section overview, with some of the titles that caught my attention as I read through the lineup descriptions: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’ Independent Lens this Thursday, March 8: BHUTTO
Duane Baughman and Johnny O’Hara premiered their portrait of Benazir Bhutto at Sundance in 2010. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, Stockholm, and a number of other festivals, picking up a special jury prize at the Sonoma International Film Festival.
While the assassinated Pakistani leader and her political family dynasty are at the core of Baughman and O’Hara’s film, their engrossing doc is actually as much about the history of her nation. Taking a comprehensive approach to Bhutto’s life, they present the story of how the daughter of Pakistan’s first democratically elected president – also tragically assassinated – was groomed to continue her father’s legacy, becoming, in the process, one of the most polarizing individuals in the Muslim world, and the first woman in history elected to lead an Islamic nation. Interviews with family and friends at the same time humanize and sanctify her, indicative of her enduring legacy as a national symbol of resistance and hope. While the film perhaps takes on too much and verges at times on hagiography, it nevertheless offers an engaging profile of a complex and fascinating figure.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Anthology Film Archive as part of their “Internationalist Cinema for Today” series this Wednesday, March 7: BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
Anders Østergaard premiered this taut exploration of journalism under a totalitarian regime at CPH:DOX in 2008 before screenings at IDFA, Sundance, and scores of other events. It received awards at CPH:DOX, IDFA, Sundance, Full Frame, and Berlin, among others, and was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar after its theatrical release in 2009.
Østergaard focuses on the courageous, but by necessity anonymous, citizen journalists who have risked arrest and torture by surreptitiously documenting human rights abuses in Burma, which at the time of filming, had been under military rule for 45 years. Their footage, smuggled out of the country, has been instrumental in bringing international attention to the plight of the Burmese people. The film follows “Joshua,” a young video journalist who becomes a de facto leader of the rest of the reporters, as he captures the massive nonviolent protest organized by Buddhist monks against the military regime and tries to evade their intelligence agencies, who seek to stop this dangerous undermining of the official propaganda. The film plays like a real life thriller, with the viewer rooting for Joshua and his team to keep one step ahead of the government. It makes for a gripping, emotional, and thought-provoking watching experience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 6: SENNA
Asif Kapadia’s doc on Formula One’s Ayrton Senna made a splash at Sundance last year, winning the World Cinema Audience Award. It was released in theatres last Summer and on VOD this Winter.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
