Category Archives: Sundance

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.

Opening this Wednesday, September 15: GASLAND

Josh Fox’s debut documentary premiered in competition at Sundance this year, where it picked up a special jury prize.

In this intimate personal documentary, Fox functions not only as the filmmaker but as the film’s guide, exploring the natural gas industry after he is offered a large sum of money to lease his property to drill for the reserves far beneath it. Focusing on a recently discovered large expanse of natural gas, the Marcellus Shale, Fox visits numerous land owners in his same position across more than 30 states to witness flammable drinking water, toxic streams, increased incidents of diseases, and animal deaths. The film is a well-made analysis of the risks and benefits associated with exploiting natural resources, and the short-sightedness that’s already created huge problems for families and communities swayed by the promise of immediate payoffs.

Opening next Wednesday, September 15: CATFISH

Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman’s debut film was the talk of Sundance this year, with many immediately questioning whether the film was in fact actually wholly a documentary.

It’s hard to say much about CATFISH (whose title I frankly don’t care for, explained incredibly late in the film, but I suppose it adds to the film’s mystique) without spoiling it, so I’m going to go as far as the festival catalogue description did: The film’s charismatic semi-nerdy protag, Nev, a photographer, becomes involved in a long-distance online relationship with Megan, the attractive sister of an eight-year-old painting prodigy, Abby, who had contacted him via MySpace to ask if she could paint one of his photographs. But when Nev and his friends head out to rural Michigan to visit the family in person for the first time, they discover that not everything they knew about the sisters is exactly as it seems.

While I worry that the film has been overhyped, I definitely enjoyed the experience of watching it, and am very curious to see how larger audiences will respond to Rogue’s release.

Being released on DVD September 14: CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY

Prolific Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney’s at times jaw-dropping exposé on top Washington DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff premiered at Sundance this year before being released theatrically by Magnolia in May. Abramoff’s story has inspired a fictionalized version, titled simply CASINO JACK, directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey, which premieres in Toronto next week.

The ambitious Abramoff took advantage of his political influence to bribe politicians and bilk Native American tribes out of millions in an outrageous scheme to establish a gambling empire. When he’s tripped up by his own emails, the scandal takes down White House officials, Congressmen, and fellow lobbyists, among others. It’s a tale of greed, corruption, and hubris that reaches almost Shakespearean proportions, made even more shocking and enraging because it’s all true, and Gibney succeeds in making it a thoroughly compelling viewing experience.

Opening this Friday, September 3: LAST TRAIN HOME

Documentary programmers, press, and industryites attending IDFA last Fall were abuzz after viewing Lixin Fan’s film, which went on to have its North American premiere in the World Cinema Competition at Sundance. Capturing in heartbreaking detail the sacrifices many Chinese rural villagers have had to make to provide for their families, the film follows one couple amongst 130 million migrant workers who make an annual holiday visit from the city where they spend virtually the entire year back to their home village to see the children they’ve left behind.

Fan establishes a powerful intimacy with his subjects – so much so that, in a pivotal scene, the audience is usually left gasping at what they’re bearing witness to, powerless to intervene and pained to see the fracturing of a family. In years to come, LAST TRAIN HOME may very well be recognized as a new classic among world documentaries.

Update: indieWIRE has a great interview with Fan for their FUTURES column here.

Opening this Friday, August 20: THE TILLMAN STORY

Premiering at Sundance earlier this year, Amir Bar-Lev’s expose of the US military’s cover-up of the death by friendly fire of professional football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman was very well received and scored a distribution deal with The Weinstein Company. Recently, as happened with its fellow Sundance alum A FILM UNFINISHED, the Weinsteins unsuccessfully faced off against the MPAA over an R rating, due in large part over the language in the documentary – the film was originally announced with the title I’M PAT ____ TILLMAN, referring to some of the Tillman family’s propensity for swearing.

Director Bar-Lev has consistently crafted engaging, thought-provoking work, and in THE TILLMAN STORY, he asks the audience to consider how and why we choose our heroes. At its core, the documentary questions not only the propaganda-making of a government at war, but the public’s willingness to buy what the government is selling.

Update: indieWIRE has a review of the film here.