Category Archives: Film Festivals

Opening in NYC next Wednesday, December 29: THE RED CHAPEL

I was fortunate to see Mads Brügger’s alternately hilarious and poignant film at its debut at Hot Docs last year, where its ethically questionable methods of exposing North Korean totalitarianism rubbed some of the audience members the wrong way. It continued playing the festival circuit with screenings at IDFA, Sundance, and New Directors/New Films, among others. At Sundance, the jury awarded the provocative project the World Cinema Documentary Prize. Lorber Films will be releasing the film just before the end of the year.

While I’ve complained on more than one occasion about filmmakers inserting themselves into their projects, THE RED CHAPEL is one case where this tactic pays off. Brügger manages to arrange for two South Korean-Danish comedians and himself to travel to North Korea, ostensibly to present a show professing cooperation between Denmark and the oppressive state. Instead, the three men plan to use humor and their documentary to infiltrate the closed society and to expose the repression faced by its people. Playing a dangerous game where a wrong move could lead to serious repercussions, Brügger is not prepared for one of the comedians to develop conflicted feelings about their mission, putting them all in jeopardy. Equal parts absurdist farce, political exposé, spy film, and even melodrama, THE RED CHAPEL is one of the most thought-provoking documentaries released this year.

Available on DVD: BIG RIVER MAN

John Maringouin’s portrait of Martin Strel premiered at last year’s Sundance, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award, and played more than a dozen other festivals, including the Hamptons, where it picked up the Wouter Barendrecht Pioneering Vision Award. The film came to DVD last week after a limited theatrical release.

The Slovenian long-distance swimmer at the heart of Maringouin’s film might defy viewer expectations – this is no lean, young Michael Phelps type – Strel is in his 50s, has high blood pressure, drinks a lot, and is, frankly, pretty fat. Having set Guinness World Records for swimming the lengths of numerous famous rivers – the Danube, the Yangtze, the Mississippi – BIG RIVER MAN follows his efforts to swim the more than 3000 miles of the Amazon in 2007. Like the best documentaries, it’s not really this feat that makes the film so watchable, it’s the man himself. LIke one of Werner Herzog’s protagonists, Strel basically loses himself in his obsession, risking his health and life to meet his goal, and Maringouin’s there to capture it in its delirious glory.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, December 14: DOUBLE TAKE

Johan Grimonprez’s clever documentary/narrative hybrid premiered at Berlin last year and went on to screen at numerous international festivals including London and IDFA before coming stateside at this year’s Sundance. Kino picked up the intriguing film for a limited release and are bringing it to DVD tomorrow.

Constructed in many ways as a film essay, DOUBLE TAKE reflects on the culture of fear that persists to the present day by focusing on the figure of Alfred Hitchcock and his late 1950s and early 1960s films. Setting them against the backdrop of Cold War paranoia, Grimonprez recasts the director from his infamous cameos to leading man in a delightfully subversive story of doppelgangers, filmmaking, advertising, and manipulation. Perfectly in keeping with Hitchcock’s self-reflexive showmanship, the film is equal parts game and avant-garde collage of the Master of Suspense’s film and TV work, making for compulsive viewing.

Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, December 14 (and already available on VOD/iTunes): EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

This is-it or isn’t-it a real doc by enigmatic British street artist Banksy debuted as a surprise screening at this year’s Sundance, with examples of his infamous graffiti appearing around Park City in a brilliant promotional tie-in/lead-up to the premiere. It’s had a critically well-received, if limited, release, and is shortlisted for the documentary Oscar.

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Coming to DVD next Tuesday, December 14: JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK

Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg’s candid portrait of the groundbreaking 75-year-old comedienne premiered at Sundance this year, where editor Penelope Falk picked up an award, and went on to be acquired by IFC Films for a very successful theatrical release this past Summer.

In no way the kind of puff piece that too-often easily results from celebrity documentaries, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK appreciates the complexity of its subject. At the heart of the film is a look at what drives comedians like Rivers – the need to perform, the need to keep on working, long after most people her age would be content to sit back and enjoy their accomplishments. A funny, poignant, and subtle examination of aging and the need to continue to feel relevant, it goes beyond the surface plastic surgery and the easy punchline to reveal a fascinating performer.

Coming to DVD next Tuesday, December 14: GASLAND

My thoughts on Josh Fox’s Sundance award winner are here.

DVD release info.