Category Archives: Sundance

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 3:
SIRENS

Director:
Rita Baghdadi

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
True/False, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Thessaloniki Doc, BFI Flare, Cleveland, Sun Valley, Florida, BAFICI, Krakow, Guadalajara, Sydney, Frameline, Outfest, BAMcinemaFest

About:
On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and Shery, co-founders and guitarists of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars.

Coming to OVID today, Tuesday, December 20:
BALLETS RUSSES

Director:
Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine

World Premiere:
Sundance 2005

Select Festivals:
Toronto, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Milwaukee

About:
An intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists who gave birth to modern ballet.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 20:
BRAINWASHED: SEX-CAMERA-POWER

Director:
Nina Menkes

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, IDFA, Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki Doc, BFI London, Jeonju, Istanbul, Beldocs, Docaviv, Frameline, Encounters, Bergen, Ambulante

About:
Based on Nina Menkes’ acclaimed talk “Sex & Power: The Visual Language of Cinema,” this is a mesmerizing journey into how shot design intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women.

Coming to OVID today, Thursday, December 15:
US KIDS

Director:
Kim A Snyder

World Premiere:
Sundance 2020

Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Doc Edge, Mountainfilm, Full Frame, Miami, Martha’s Vineyard, NewportFilm, Calgary, GlobeDocs, Bergen, Hamptons, Mill Valley

About:
The young survivors of the Parkland school shooting are followed over a transformative year and a half.

My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 13:
RIOTSVILLE, USA

Director:
Sierra Pettengill

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
New Directors/New Films, True/False, CPH:DOX, Seattle, Freep, San Francisco, Traverse City

About:
Footage shot by the media and government of a fictional town built by the US military explores the militarization of the police and the reaction of a nation to the uprisings of the late 1960s, creating a counter-narrative to a critical moment in American history.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, December 9:
TO THE END

Director:
Rachel Lears

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Doclisboa, Cleveland, Wisconsin, Ji.hlava, Hawai’i,

About:
Stopping the climate crisis is a question of political courage, and the clock is ticking. Over three years of turbulence and crisis, four remarkable young women of color fight for a Green New Deal, igniting a historic shift in US climate politics.

Coming to OVID today, Wednesday, December 7:
WESTERN

Directors:
Bill Ross, Turner Ross

World Premiere:
Sundance 2015

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Full Frame, Sarasota, Dallas, Ashland, Maryland, Montclair

About:
Towns on both sides of the Rio Grande face the threat of drug cartels.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 2:
TANTURA

Director:
Alon Schwarz

World Premiere:
Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, It’s All True, Cleveland, Docaviv, Hong Kong, Hot Springs Doc, Doclisboa, Philadelphia

About:
In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, hundreds of Palestinian villages were destroyed, with their inhabitants killed or exiled. The film focuses on one village: Tantura, bringing to light Israel’s founding narrative and its society’s inability to come to terms with its dark past.