Coming to Showtime this weekend on February 15 and 16: HISTORY OF THE EAGLES PART ONE and PART TWO
The first part of Alison Ellwood’s comprehensive portrait of the rock band legends made its world premiere last month at Sundance. The second part will have its premiere in broadcast this Saturday evening.
I profiled part one before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema as part of Filmwax’s Docularious! series this Saturday, February 9: WHY WE LAUGH: BLACK COMEDIANS ON BLACK COMEDY
Robert Townsend’s overview of the history of black comedy in America made its world premiere at Sundance in 2009. The documentary was acquired by Showtime for its cable broadcast premiere in 2010, and went on to tour at various festivals, film series, and college engagements.
Aided by a copious amount of entertaining clips, a who’s who of comedy weigh in on the development of their profession, and the specific influence black comedians have had, in Townsend’s entertaining and appreciative survey. Going back to the racially charged tradition of minstrel shows and blackface, to early performers like Bert Williams and Lincoln “Stepin Fetchit” Perry, the film explores the representations of black entertainment and entertainers as it moved from stereotypes like Amos ‘n’ Andy to more rounded, yet often still limited, figures over the past century. Cultural critics like Dr Cornel West offer their appreciation for those performers, like Richard Pryor, who candidly expressed a freer point of view, and achieved success because of it. Covering luminaries like Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Dave Chappelle, and exploring the impact of pioneering programming like the 1970s sitcoms THE JEFFERSONS and GOOD TIMES, as well as later showcases for black comedians such as IN LIVING COLOR, and DEF COMEDY JAM, Townsend cuts a wide swath, addressing the way black comics have used their talents to succeed in the face of societal barriers, employed humor to point out inequalities and rally mainstream support for change, and – perhaps for varying reasons – made us all laugh.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 5: CONNECTED
Tiffany Schlain’s personal meditation on our (inter)dependence on technology premiered at Sundance in 2011. Since then, it has screened extensively at fests around the world, enjoyed a limited theatrical release, and picked up numerous awards, including from Tribeca, National Geographic, and Berlin. The doc becomes available via iTunes today.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres in NYC and Los Angeles today, Friday, February 1: THE GATEKEEPERS
Dror Moreh’s enthralling interviews with the former heads of Israel’s internal security made its premiere at the Jerusalem Film Festival last year. It went on to screen at Telluride, Toronto, and Sundance, and is one of the five finalists for the Best Documentary Oscar.
I wrote about the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres beginning tomorrow, Thursday, January 31 and available for download beginning this Friday, February 1: SOUND CITY
The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl premiered his ode to the titular recording studio earlier this month at Sundance. Capitalizing on the exposure there, in addition to his large fanbase, he releases the film in more than fifty theatres in the US, Canada, and Australia for a one night only event, then expands to other venues through February and into March. Simultaneously, the doc is being offered for DRM-free download via the website listed above.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Sundance 2013 has wrapped and I’m back in NYC. I’m still paying back some hefty sleep debt, and trying to fight off the postdance cold, so Park City hasn’t completely left me yet. Before turning back to real life, I thought I would recap the 2013 awards for anyone who wasn’t following along Saturday night. With many films already acquired for distribution, and more deals to be announced in the coming weeks, w(n)td readers should have a chance to see a number of these titles in theatres, VOD, or broadcast, as well as other festival exposure, over the next few months.
The 2013 Sundance awards ceremony, hosted by a gregarious Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who had premiered his directorial debut, DON JON’S ADDICTION, to raves the week before, and generally functioned as a goodwill ambassador for the festival for the duration), quickly recapped awards announced earlier in the week – Shorts, Mahindra, NHK, Sloan – before getting down to the business at hand – US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, plus the Best of NEXT audience award: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29: BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*
Fredrik Gertten’s behind-the-scenes look at the controversy generated by his previous film premiered at IDFA in 2011. It went on to screen at Sundance, DocPoint, Hot Docs, Planete, and Sheffield, among others fests.
My pre-Sundance profile may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday January 29: TO CATCH A DOLLAR: MUHAMMAD YUNUS BANKS ON AMERICA
Gayle Ferraro’s look at the work of the Nobel Prize-winning economist made its world premiere at Sundance in 2010. It went on to screen at CPH:DOX and Miami, among other fests, and to over 200 theatres in the US.
I previously wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The 2013 Sundance Film Festival opens tonight and runs through Sunday, January 27. Because of my responsibilities as Programming Associate for the festival, introducing film screenings and moderating Q&As, I will be putting w(n)td on hiatus for the duration. Normal, daily posting will resume on Monday, January 28.
For a glimpse at what I’ll be up to over the next eleven days, read through my film-by-film profile of the more than forty documentaries in this year’s lineup, beginning here.
To keep up with goings on in Park City, follow me on Twitter, or follow my Sundance filmmaker class of 2013 Twitter list.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center for a week run starting this Friday, January 18: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, and THE INVISIBLE WAR
In recognition of last week’s Academy Award nominations announcement, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is re-presenting three of the five films up for this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, all of which previously played as part of FSLC programming – PLAGUE and CAMERAS screened as part of New Directors/New Films, while WAR was part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. If you’re in NYC, this will be another chance to catch all three on the big screen before the winner is announced on Sunday, February 24.
I previously wrote about all three prior to their debuts at Sundance a year ago:
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
5 BROKEN CAMERAS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 