Coming to OVID.tv today, Tuesday, December 10:
UNDER THE SUN
Director:
Vitaly Mansky
World Premiere:
DOK.Leipzig
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, IDFA, Hot Docs, Tallinn Black Nights, Jihlava, DocPoint, SXSW, DOXA, San Francisco, Seattle
About:
An authorized portrait of a typical North Korean family becomes a subversive look at life in North Korea.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Wednesday, December 11:
MOONLIGHT SONATA: DEAFNESS IN THREE MOVEMENTS
Director:
Irene Taylor Brodsky
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Portland, AFI Docs, Mountainfilm, Martha’s Vineyard, Provincetown
About:
A personal meditation on deafness through the experiences of the filmmaker’s son, her parents, and Beethoven.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10:
BLACK MOTHER
Director:
Khalik Allah
Premiere:
True/False 2018
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Sheffield, New Directors/New Films, Sarasota, Montclair
About:
An essay offering a meditation on Jamaican identity, history, and spirituality.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10:
WORLDS OF URSULA K LE GUIN
Director:
Arwen Curry
World Premiere:
Sheffield 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Ashland, Mill Valley, BendFilm, Austin, Boston Sci-Fi, Berlin Sci-Fi, Sebastopol Doc, Belfast, Newport Beach
About:
An intimate portrait of the pioneering author.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 6:
A GERMAN YOUTH
Director:
Jean-Gabriel Périot
Premiere:
Berlin 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Art of the Real, Cinéma du Réel, Visions du Réel, BAFICI, San Francisco, IndieLisboa, Docaviv, Moscow, Transilvania, Melbourne, Sarajevo, Bergen, Hamptons, New Horizons
About:
A rich portrait of key members of the Red Army Faction, composed entirely through found footage.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 6:
WHEN LAMBS BECOME LIONS
Director:
Jon Kasbe
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, New Orleans, Mountainfilm, Denver, Zurich, Planet in Focus, San Diego, Movies That Matter, Docs Against Gravity, Budapest Docs, Wild & Scenic, Washington DC Enviro, Philadelphia Enviro, Indie Grits
About:
A complex exploration of ivory hunting, from the perspectives of ranger and poacher.
Set in Kenya, director Jon Kasbe’s well-constructed film offers a remarkably insider look at the ivory trade, focused on an ivory dealer called X and his cousin, Asan, a former poacher turned ranger tasked with preventing poaching. Embedding with both men, the filmmaker demonstrates the unforgiving economic reality that sustains the illegal killing of elephants. While X is an unlikable figure, disingenuously attempting to elide his role in the slaughter of animals by noting that his colleague, Lukas, is the one who shoots them while he only supervises, it’s made evident that X seems to have few options. He was born into this detestable profession and there are few ways to support his family – a situation facing Asan, who has worked unpaid for months, and faces the moral dilemma of helping his cousin with his illegal activities. Kasbe’s observational approach provides no easy answers or judgement, which will rankle some viewers, but it makes for an impressive and distinct portrait of a well-covered topic.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to OVID.tv today, Friday, December 6:
OVERLOAD: AMERICA’S TOXIC LOVE STORY
Director:
Soozie Eastman
World Premiere:
Rocky Mountain Women’s 2018
Select Festivals:
Flyover
About:
The filmmaker attempts to reduce the toxic substances in her body in preparation for having children.
Director Soozie Eastman, a former make-up artist and daughter of an industrial chemical distributor, is starting to contemplate having kids, but is concerned about all the chemicals she’s exposed to after she learns that newborns already have high levels of toxic substances in their bodies. She sets out to find out what toxins she’s carrying, and to see if she can reduce them through changing what she buys and eats. Borrowing heavily from the Morgan Spurlock school of documentary filmmaking, Eastman is not an unpleasant presence, but her film is very familiar, taking the same route countless other films have in putting the concerned filmmaker in the role of human guinea pig in an experiment on the impact of a given substance or industry – visiting experts, reviewing products, calling companies and getting stonewalled, providing advice and solutions to consumers, etc. It’s a well intentioned project, and Eastman tries to liven things up with some hokey animation, but feels overlong for what it is.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
