Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Berry Berenson Perkins
Frédéric Tcheng explores the life and legacy of America’s first celebrity designer.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Category Archives: Film
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: HALSTON
Frédéric Tcheng explores the life and legacy of America’s first celebrity designer.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On TV: RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, January 14:
RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE
Directors:
Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Big Sky Doc, Wild and Scenic, Oxford, Washington DC Environmental, Salem, Indie Grits, Freep, Sarasota, IFF Boston, RiverRun, Doc Edge, SF DocFest, Woods Hole, Sidewalk, DocUtah, Yale Environmental, Tallgrass, Hot Springs Doc
About:
A wide-ranging look at efforts to protect Louisiana from a giant swamp rat.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE GREAT HACK
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim present a disturbing investigation into data and privacy in the modern digital age.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE BRINK
Courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Alison Klayman follows Steve Bannon’s right-wing barnstorming efforts after his departure from the White House.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres: THE SILENCE OF OTHERS
Coming to theatres today, Friday, January 11:
THE SILENCE OF OTHERS
Directors:
Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar
Premiere:
Berlin 2018
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Reyjkavik, Docs Against Gravity, Cairo, Hamptons, Mar del Plata, Los Angeles, Moscow
Notable Recognition:
The doc was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
About:
Victims and survivors of Franco’s brutal regime take to Argentine courts to seek justice.
The regime of Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco was marked by arrests, disappearances, and executions. After his passing in 1975, and the establishment of democracy, policies were put into practice to encourage forgetting the past in order for Spain to move forward. As a result, while political prisoners were freed, the perpetrators of torture and murder were granted amnesty – a decision that has remained controversial ever since. In recent years, as detailed in Carracedo and Bahar’s project, with no legal recourse within Spain, survivors turned to the idea of universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, and filed suit in Argentine courts against Spanish perpetrators. The doc profiles several of the parties to the suit as the wheels of justice very slowly turn. While affecting at times, this conventionally told film includes far too many subjects, robbing it of focus, and, as it details an ongoing, unresolved lawsuit, ultimately feels unfinished.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: ASK DR RUTH
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Paul Jacobson
ASK DR RUTH
Ryan White profiles the world-famous sex therapist and Holocaust survivor, Dr Ruth Westheimer.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On DVD: TRANSMILITARY
New to DVD this week:
TRANSMILITARY
Director:
Gabe Silverman
Co-Director:
Fiona Dawson
Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Florida, Minneapolis-St Paul, Frameline, Outfest
About:
Four transgender members of the US military work to end the ban on their service, only to see Trump try to reinstate it.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Per Jarl
Henrik Georgsson details the dangerous life of the posthumously bestselling crime author.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Sweden
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2019 Cinema Eye Honors Winners
The 12th annual Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing achievements in non-fiction film from 2018, were celebrated at the Museum of the Moving Image at a ceremony last evening.
Below is the full list of winners announced at last night’s ceremony, which was hosted for the fourth (and theoretically final) year by documentarian Steve James. I once again served on the Nominations Committee for features. Congratulations to all the winners, nominees, and the hard-working Cinema Eye organizers.
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
Directed by RaMell Ross
Produced by Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, and RaMell Ross
Audience Choice Prize
FREE SOLO
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Bing Liu for MINDING THE GAP
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Joshua Altman and Bing Liu for MINDING THE GAP
Outstanding Achievement in Production
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, and Shannon Dill for FREE SOLO
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, and Mikey Schaeffer for FREE SOLO
Outstanding Achievement in an Original Music Score
Ishai Adair for SHIRKERS
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
Lucas Celler and Sandi Tan for SHIRKERS
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
MINDING THE GAP
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
MY DEAD DAD’S PORNO TAPES
Directed by Charlie Tyrell
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Films Made for Broadcast
BALTIMORE RISING
Directed by Sonja Sohn, HBO
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series Made for Broadcast
AMERICA TO ME
Directed by Steve James, STARZ
Spotlight Award
THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS
Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
Heterodox Award
AMERICAN ANIMALS
Directed by Bart Layton
Legacy Award
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Executive Producer Henry Hampton
Series Producer/Writer/Director Judith Vecchione, Series Producer Jon Else, Director/Writer/Producers Orlando Bagwell, Sheila Curran Bernard, Callie Crossley, James A. DeVinney, Madison D Lacy, Thomas Ott, Samuel D Pollard, Terry Kay Rockefeller, Jacqueline Shearer, and Paul Stekler
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: SHOOTING THE MAFIA
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Kim Longinotto profiles an acclaimed Sicilian photographer and her lifetime bravely bearing witness to the Mafia’s crimes.
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Ireland/USA
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 