Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22: THESE AMAZING SHADOWS
Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton premiered their doc on the National Film Registry at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Since then, it has screened at nearly two dozen additional festivals, picking up awards in Savannah and Louisville, and enjoyed theatrical engagements all over the country.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
Yesterday, the first part of my IDFA overview highlighted a number of films screening in the Amsterdam-based festival’s various competitions. In this second post, I look at the remainder of the regular programming and offer a few more of my must-sees. This still only barely scratches the surface of the event’s extensive line-up, not to mention other components like the Forum, DocLab, retrospective screenings, panels, and shorts. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
IDFA, the largest documentary event in the world, begins next Wednesday in Amsterdam and continues through November 27. More than 300 films will screen, culled from 3600 submissions – staggering figures, and a testament to the diligence of Director Ally Derks and her staff.
I’ve been attending the festival for the past few years, and am honored to be serving on the its First Appearance competition jury for this edition. I look forward to seeing each of the sixteen debut films in this category, hailing from nearly as many countries, so, out of impartiality, I won’t single any of them out below. The full list may be found here. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 8: LIFE IN A DAY
Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald combed through YouTube user-generated footage from July 24, 2010 to create a portrait of life during a single day. The film had its simultaneous world premiere at Sundance and online this past January and also had a theatrical engagement during the Summer.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Premiering on OWN as part of Oprah’s Documentary Club this Thursday, November 3: CRIME AFTER CRIME
Yoav Potash premiered his film about battered woman Deborah Peagler’s case at Sundance this year, and went on to claim awards at San Francisco and Washington DC. It had a limited theatrical release this summer and now comes to cable via Oprah.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Support the OWN Documentary Club by tuning in Thursday at 9pm!
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Margaret Mead Film Festival has the distinction of being the longest-running doc festival in the US. Named for the noted cultural anthropologist, who died two years after the festival’s founding in commemoration of her 75th birthday, and hosted by the American Museum of Natural History where Mead worked, the festival is acclaimed as a showcase for international ethnographic and experimental non-fiction. This year’s event, which runs November 10-13, includes 25 feature length works, and more than a dozen shorts, panels, and other special presentations. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, November 1: MAGIC TRIP
Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood’s doc on Ken Kesey’s LSD-fueled cross country bus trip doc premiered this year at Sundance. Magnolia brought the film out in theatres and on VOD this summer after additional festival appearances.
My pre-Sundance profile may be found
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 1: THE LAST MOUNTAIN
Bill Haney’s enraging exploration of the destructive impact of mountaintop coal removal in Appalachia had its world premiere back in January at Sundance. It had a limited theatrical run this past Summer.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
After a successful inaugural event last year, Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen’s DOC NYC returns for 2011 with additional days and an expanded line-up which includes over 50 feature-length documentaries. Running November 2-10, the festival pulls from Powers’ Toronto line-up (where he serves as documentary programmer) while also presenting a number of US and international films to make their NYC debut. Taking a section-by-section look at this year’s events, here are the titles I’m most interested in trying to see: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 1: HOT COFFEE
Attorney-turned-filmmaker Susan Saladoff brought her scathing exposé on how Americans have been misled into weakening their own ability to wage civil lawsuits to Sundance for its world premiere. It was picked up by HBO for broadcast this past Summer.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 