Category Archives: Film

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 20: ALMOST HOLY

Steve Hoover’s portrait of a controversial do-gooder made its debut at Tribeca last year, under its original title, CROCODILE GENNADIY. The doc’s festival circuit has included IDFA, Hamptons, ZagrebDox, Tallinn Black Nights, Maryland, Heartland, San Francisco DocFest, Sidewalk, Bergen, Portland, and One World, among others.

For years, pastor Gennadiy Mokhnenko has waged a crusade to save the children of his struggling nation, Ukraine. He regularly patrols Mariupol, picking up abandoned and lost street children, often via force, and brings them to his rehab center, Pilgrim Republic, to kick drugs and a dead-end existence of abuse. While some celebrate his vigilantism, others decry it, making him a frequent guest on local television programs. In his own mind, he’s a savior, and one willing to resort to extreme measures when his corrupt government seems little-inclined to intervene. Mokhnenko makes for a compelling, if confounding, hero and anti-hero in equal parts, a caring father figure for the children he saves – or attempts to – but also a violent demagogue, though one who is often surprisingly funny and charming. He offers himself uncensored for Hoover’s camera, while the filmmaker intercuts Mokhnenko’s relative successes in the early 2000s with present-day footage that tackles Ukraine’s descent into war and chaos even as he continues on his seemingly endless – and hopeless – mission.

Coming to the Discovery Channel tomorrow, Thursday, May 19: SONIC SEA

Michelle Dougherty and Daniel Hinerfeld’s exploration of the impact of noise on marine life debuted at Wild & Scenic at the beginning of the year. Other fests have included Big Sky, Washington DC’s Environmental, DocuWest, Provincetown, Princeton Environmental, and San Francisco Green, as well as a host of specialized screenings around the world. Discovery’s worldwide broadcast is part of its Discovery Impact series.

Dougherty and Hinerfeld’s midlength offers viewers an engaging, empathetic view of sealife and the invisible factors that are endangering it – namely, manmade noise. With sound-based communication pivotal to the well-being of dolphins, whales, and other marine life, the incursion of humans into this sonic landscape has been traumatic. Beyond increased traffic by noisy industrial vessels and the use of sonar, the film notes the growth of the practice of triggering underwater explosions to prospect for oil – all contributing to a cacophony below the surface that has led to tragic death and confusion. This well-made film makes for a solid call to action on an under-reported environmental issue, thought it begs for expansion to a full-length project.

New to DVD/VOD this week: THE WINDING STREAM

Beth Harrington’s exploration of the musical Carter and Cash families made its bow at SXSW in 2014. Its festival circuit also included Cleveland, Nashville, Atlanta, the Southern Circuit, Woods Hole, Sound + Vision, DokuFest, Hot Springs Doc, New Orleans’ filmOrama, Galway, and St Louis.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, May 17: TROUBLEMAKERS: THE STORY OF LAND ART

James Crump’s chronicle of the expansion of art out of the gallery premiered at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art last Fall. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, New York Film Festival, St Louis, Milan’s Fondazione Prada, and Art Basel Miami, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.