New to VOD this week:
KINGS, QUEENS, & IN-BETWEENS
Director:
Gabrielle Burton
Premiere:
Cleveland 2016
Select Festivals:
Southern Circuit, Buffalo, Newark, LGBT fests in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Bern
About:
Drag performers in Columbus OH explain gender, sex, sexuality, and drag.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, March 10 and to HBO this coming Monday, March 13:
CRIES FROM SYRIA
Director:
Evgeny Afineevsky
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
About:
An overarching account of the impact of Syria’s civil war on its people.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Thursday, March 9:
UNCERTAIN
Directors:
Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands
Premiere:
Tribeca 2015
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, Seattle, AFI Docs, Tempo Doc
About:
A Southern Gothic study of three residents of a small Texan town.
Named after the Texas/Louisiana bordertown, population 94, McNicol and Sandilands focus their attention on three distinct stories centered on three men at different ages, all in some way haunted by past or present concerns: 74-year-old Henry, a recently widowed fisherman and tour guide; middle-aged Wayne, a former addict with a prison background, currently on a quest to kill his sworn enemy, a wild boar named Mr Ed; and 21-year-old Zach, a diabetic heavy drinker who recently had his troubled mother committed. Their stories slowly play out against a shared background portending a greater existential threat – an aquatic weed is wreaking havoc with the fragile ecosystem of the community’s lake, potentially destroying the town’s only real source of livelihood. Capturing their setting with evocative lensing and an unhurried pace, the filmmakers deftly craft a humanistic, and surprisingly hopeful, portrait.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
BURLESQUE: HEART OF THE GLITTER TRIBE
Director:
Jon Manning
Premiere:
limited theatrical engagements (February 2017)
About:
A survey of the neo-burlesque scene in Portland OR.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New on VOD via Google Play and VUDU this week:
THE SWIRL (EL REMOLINO)
Director:
Laura Herrero Garvín
Premiere:
Ambulante 2016
Select Festivals:
Locarno, Camden, Washington DC Environmental, DocsMX, Oaxaca, Morelia
About:
A trans farmer and her sister navigate life in an oft-flooded Chiapas village.
The small community of El Remolino – literally translated as “the swirl” – annually faces extreme flooding, located as it is along a raging river in Chiapas, Mexico. Trying to maintain their precarious existence here are Esther, a mother who documents her life via camcorder, and Pedro, her openly MTF transgender sister, a farmer. Garvín’s observational slice-of-life portrait is well made, presenting her subjects as fleshed out individuals while also taking on larger social issues that have an ongoing impact on their lives, from climate change to gender and sexuality.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
This Friday, March 10 sees the opening of this year’s edition of SXSW, Austin TX’s popular film/interactive/music event. The film festival component, which runs through Saturday, March 18, offers approx 125 features, including new and retrospective work. Among these are more than 50 documentary features, appearing in the event’s various sections, with highlights noted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
New to DVD this week:
NOTFILM
Director:
Ross Lipman
Premiere:
BFI London 2015
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Dublin, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Film Comment Selects series, BAFICI.
About:
The story behind Samuel Beckett’s only film project, FILM.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 7:
OKLAHOMA CITY
Director:
Barak Goodman
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
About:
A look back at the events which led to the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, March 7:
WE ARE X
Director:
Stephen Kijak
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Vancouver, Seattle, BFI London, Shanghai, Guanajuato, IDFA
About:
A profile of Japanese super band X Japan and its charismatic frontman, Yoshiki X.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, March 7:
THE C WORD
Director:
Meghan O’Hara
Premiere:
Hamptons 2015
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Cleveland, Martha’s Vineyard, Napa Valley, Traverse City, Newport
About:
A personal battle with cancer prompts a reconsideration of the way Western society approaches the disease.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
