Category Archives: Film

August 24, 2018 · 1:31 PM

In Theatres: HOT TO TROT

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 24:
HOT TO TROT

Director:
Gail Freedman

Premiere:
Frameline 2017

Select Festivals:
NewFest, Documentary Edge, LGBT fests in Boston, Atlanta, and London

About:
A profile of same-sex competitive ballroom dancers.

Freedman’s film follows two pairs of dancers: Gay male dancer Ernesto, who begins with dancing partner Robbie, but must shift gears when the latter must contend with a health emergency, and takes on new teammate Nikolai; and lesbians Emily and Kieran. Notably, neither pairs are romantically linked, but working in tandem, they develop a unique intimacy. With same-sex dancers barred from mainstream ballroom competitions due to proscribed rules about men leading and women following, these Freds and Gingers instead show their moves on the niche same-sex circuit, represented here primarily through Oakland’s April Follies and the Gay Games. Unfortunately, the film actually doesn’t adequately permit the dancers to strut their stuff – despite a subject matter that lends itself to action and vibrancy, there’s surprisingly little dance here, and what is shown is filmed fairly perfunctorily. Instead of focusing on the competition, Freedman opts to go for portraiture – a not unreasonable decision, given the surfeit of mediocre competition docs made each year – but her protagonists just aren’t particularly compelling absent dance, making for a fairly forgettable run down of their coming out stories, health issues, and the like.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

August 24, 2018 · 12:01 PM

In Theatres: THE OSLO DIARIES

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 24:
THE OSLO DIARIES

Directors:
Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan

Premiere:
Sundance 2018

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, Jerusalem, Global Peace, Biografilm, Documentary Edge, Jewish festivals in San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, and London

About:
An unprecedented behind the scenes look at the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

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

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

August 23, 2018 · 3:02 PM

In Theatres & On VOD: CRIME + PUNISHMENT

Coming to theatres and to Hulu tomorrow, Friday, August 24:
CRIME + PUNISHMENT

Director:
Stephen Maing

Premiere:
Sundance 2018

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Doc10, Full Frame, BAMcinemaFest, Ashland, Sarasota, Thin Line, Montclair, Nashville, Seattle, Shanghai, Traverse City, Martha’s Vineyard, NY Asian American, Southern Fried, Houston Latino

About:
Whistleblowing police officers attempt to expose a corrupt NYPD.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

August 23, 2018 · 1:31 PM

In Theatres: MAKALA

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 24:
MAKALA

Director:
Emmanuel Gras

Premiere:
Cannes 2017

Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Toronto, London, Busan, IDFA, CPH:DOX, True/False, Thessaloniki Doc, New Directors/New Films, Poland’s New Horizons, Palm Springs, Goteborg, Tokyo, Hamburg, Vienna

About:
A young Congolese man embarks on a Sisyphean trek to sell charcoal.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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August 23, 2018 · 12:01 PM

On VOD: DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?

New to VOD this week:
DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?

Director:
Chris Paine

Premiere:
Regency Village Theater, Westwood (April 2018)

Select Festivals:
CinemAmbiente

About:
An exploration of the current and potential impact of artificial intelligence on the world.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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August 22, 2018 · 3:02 PM

On TV: QUIET HEROES

Coming to Logo TV tomorrow, Thursday, August 23:
QUIET HEROES

Directors:
Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, and Amanda Stoddard

Premiere:
Sundance 2018

Select Festivals:
Frameline, BFI Flare, Portland QDoc, TLVFest

About:
A tribute to the only medical professionals in Utah who would treat patients with AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.

My pre-Sundance profile may be found here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

August 22, 2018 · 1:31 PM

Special Screening: PICK OF THE LITTER

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Thursday, August 23:
PICK OF THE LITTER

Directors:
Don Hardy and Dana Nachman

Premiere:
Slamdance 2018

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Melbourne, New Zealand, Sydney, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Freep, Hawaii, Newport Beach

About:
A behind the scenes look at the training of guide dogs for the blind.

Phil, Primrose, Potomac, Patriot, and Poppet are all in the running for a vitally important, life-changing job, but they’ll have to make it through intense training first. These five adorable puppies from the same litter are candidates to become guide dogs for the blind. In this heartwarming and affectionate film, directors Dana Nachman and Don Hardy follow them from birth through training to see which dogs have what it takes to be paired with one of the 500 applicants seeking their assistance, including Janet, waiting for her fourth dog, and Ron, waiting for his first.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations

August 22, 2018 · 12:01 PM

New York Latino 2018: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 15th New York Latino Film Festival

Dates:
August 22-26

About:
This well-regarded event showcasing the work of Latinx talent in film went dormant between 2013-2016, but returned last year. This year’s anniversary edition offers two dozen features, among them 10 documentaries. Continue reading →

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations

August 21, 2018 · 3:02 PM

In Theatres: JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, August 22:
JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION

Director:
Julien Faraut

Premiere:
Berlin 2018

Select Festivals:
Cinema du Reel, Art of the Real, Seattle, deadCenter, Las Vegas, Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Provincetown, Jerusalem, Jeonju

About:
The athlete’s 1984 French Open performance illustrates an essay on the linkage between tennis and cinema.

Though its title might suggest a conventional biographical portrait, Faraut’s unconventional film is anything but. While its titular subject ends up being the project’s focal point, the film signals its unusual approach in its set up, highlighting not McEnroe, but the work of Gil de Kermadec, an instructional filmmaker for France’s Institut National du Sport et de l’Education Physique. Faraut himself has a background at the INSEP, informing this analysis bridging the worlds of sport and cinema. He draws first from de Kermadec’s almost comic how-to-play-tennis films and then from footage of McEnroe on the courts to demonstrate the pro’s unpredictable style and infamous rage. At the same time, the filmmaker, through the playful – sometimes too much so – narration by Mathieu Amalric, builds a not altogether convincing argument about the parallels between filmmaking and tennis, involving meditations on movement, time, perception, and, ultimately, storytelling, with McEnroe in the role of auteur. The culmination is a deep and occasionally repetitive parsing of McEnroe’s legendary disappointment at the finals of the 1984 French Open. While the film’s drollness gives way to pretension at times, there’s a distinct pleasure in witnessing McEnroe’s masterful game from such a hyper-focused perspective, even for non-fans.