Coming to Showtime this Friday, January 22 and to the History Channel this Saturday, January 23: DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON
Douglas Tirola’s look back at the popularity and influence of the satiric humor magazine debuted at Sundance last year. The doc went on to screen at Nantucket, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Full Frame, AFI Docs, Traverse City, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Sarasota, Montclair, and Sydney, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens next Monday, January 25: IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST
Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn’s look at Polynesian teenagers’ dreams of success through sports made its bow at Sundance last year. The doc has gone on to screen at Los Angeles, DocUtah, CAAMFest, Hawaii, Twin Cities, and the San Diego Asian film fests, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
And finally, I’ve reached the final doc of this year’s fest lineup, from Sundance Kids: THE EAGLE HUNTRESS, Otto Bell’s look at a Mongolian teenager determined to cross a millennia-old gender barrier.
Festival Section:
Sundance Kids
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Today brings us to the last of this year’s Sundance nonfiction, beginning with the sole doc in the Midnight section: THE BLACKOUT EXPERIMENTS, Rich Fox’s exploration of the secret world of an individualized immersive fright experience and its adherents.
Festival Section:
Midnight
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
And wrapping up Special Events features (remaining nonfiction projects are short form): Ezra Edelman’s OJ: MADE IN AMERICA, an ESPN 30 FOR 30 miniseries about the football star-turned-murder suspect.
Festival Section:
Special Events
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Next up in Special Events: Eddie Schmidt’s CHELSEA DOES, a preview of the new Chelsea Handler-led Netflix docuseries.
Festival Section:
Special Events
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
My Sundance doc profiles move on to this year’s Special Events, one-off presentations of upcoming episodic and other unique programming: Bernard MacMahon’s AMERICAN EPIC, a preview of a multi-part PBS docuseries and feature doc exploring the roots of American music.
Festival Section:
Special Events
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
My New Frontier roundup ends with the third of three nonfiction/hybrid titles: Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s NOTES ON BLINDNESS, which re-embodies a man’s experiences of losing his sight.
Festival Section:
New Frontier
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Today’s second New Frontier title: Deborah Stratman’s THE ILLINOIS PARABLES, an experimental meditation on belief, doubt, science, and religion.
Festival Section:
New Frontier
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to Pivot TV for its Stand Up For Justice Month programming today, Monday, January 18: A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush’s look at hunger in America made its bow at Sundance in 2012. Further festival play included Seattle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Palm Springs, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 