Category Archives: Film Festivals

Coming to HBO this Monday, September 27: TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

Adrian Grenier’s film (his second doc following SHOT IN THE DARK) premiered at this year’s Sundance before being acquired by HBO, whose ENTOURAGE helped turned Grenier into a household name.

Focused on the young star’s unusual relationship with Austin, a 14-year-old celebrity photographer who he turns the tables on to document instead, TEENAGE PAPARAZZO becomes a surprisingly intimate and intricate exploration of celebrity, media, and the symbiotic/parastic connection which exists between them. Initially intrigued by Austin’s youth to explore the role of the paparazzi, Grenier expands his project further to question the nature of fame and his own influence on his young subject, leading to thought-provoking role-reversals, revealing as much about himself as it does about his young friend.

Coming to DVD next Friday, September 28: THE OATH

My thoughts on Laura Poitras’ powerful Sundance alum are here.

For information on the DVD release, visit the film’s distributor, Zeitgeist FIlms.

Opening this Friday, September 24: WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”

Davis Guggenheim scored a triple coup at Sundance: his newest film was pre-emptively bought by Paramount on the opening day of the festival before its world premiere, Bill Gates made a visit to Park City to support the project, and the film won the Audience Award for Best US Documentary. Since then, much support has been put behind the film, including a smart campaign gathering pledges from audience members to see the film, which have translated into real benefits for public schools.

Like his most notable previous project, Guggenheim’s film looks at a very inconvenient truth: America’s public education system is broken. He comprehensively dissects the reasons why – including an insular and powerful teachers union that protects terrible educators, reshuffling them from one school to the next, rather than showing them the door – and profiles a number of students and the efforts of their parents to secure for them a decent education. This is the kind of non-fiction project that should incite public outrage and lead to real and lasting reform, and one hopes that with the support of its powerful advocates, it can have the “super” power to school the education system.

Coming to POV on September 21: THE OATH

Laura Poitras’ latest film premiered in competition at Sundance this year, where it picked up the Documentary Cinematography Award. It made the festival rounds the rest of the year, appearing at Berlin, SXSW, and in New Directors/New Films, and continued to pick up awards at True/False, Full Frame, Hot Docs, and elsewhere, before it began a theatrical run.

Focused on two brother-in-law protagonists, one seen, the other a “ghost,” represented through letters he writes from prison in Guantanamo Bay, THE OATH reveals an unseen side of Al Qaeda. The stories of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver intertwine to provide a context through which to understand the development of political ideology and the origins and aftermath of 9/11. Attaining unprecedented access into a forbidden world, moreso as a female filmmaker in a gender-segregated culture, Poitras manages to develop a surprisingly natural ease with her subject, resulting in a complex portrait of an organization that’s often over-simplified.

To find out more about the POV screening on PBS, click here.