Coming to DVD and VOD today Tuesday, June 23: MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER
Greg Vander Veer’s portrait of an American dance instructor debuted at last year’s Dance on Camera. It went on to screen at Sarasota, Berkshire, Dance Camera West, St Louis, and Vancouver.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 23: IF YOU BUILD IT
Patrick Creadon’s profile of an innovative approach to education made its world premiere at Full Frame in 2013. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, AFI Docs, Cucalorus, Austin, Heartland, Hot Springs, and the Hamptons, among others.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 23: LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
Thomas G Miller’s look at a decades-long struggle for marriage equality made its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Tallgrass, Woodstock, Antenna Doc, Hawaii, Denver, Cleveland, Palm Springs, Sheffield, Frameline, Outfest, and other LGBT fests around the world. It comes to iTunes via the Cinema Guild now, and to other VOD platforms at the end of the month.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 23: A DANGEROUS GAME
Anthony Baxter’s continuing investigation into the dangers of luxury development premiered at Hot Docs last year. Other fests included Sheffield, Edinburgh, Hamptons, DC’s Environmental fest, Vancouver, Reykjavik, Denver, and One World, among others. Bond/360 now releases the film on VOD platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, and VUDU.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this coming Monday, June 22: FRESH DRESSED
Sacha Jenkins’ history of hip hop fashion made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year. Other fest screenings included Dallas, RiverRun, Sarasota, Nashville, and Hawaii, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 19: THE WANTED 18
Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan’s story of the state of Israel vs a herd of cattle debuted at Toronto last year. Other screenings have included Abu Dhabi, Tallinn Black Nights, Thessaloniki Doc, and the Human Rights Watch fest, among others.
Decidedly in the category of stranger than fiction, Shomali and Cowan’s mix of talking heads and animated re-enactments reveals the now legendary tale of Palestinian rebellion via the unlikely vehicle of dairy farming. During the First Intifada in the late 1980s, a group of Palestinians in Beit Sahour in the Occupied Territories managed to purchase eighteen cows from a kibbutz, aiming for a level of self-sufficiency from the restrictions of dairy products from Israel, despite not having a clue how to work with cattle. When the Israeli government learned of their action, they began to crackdown, arguing that the cows were a threat to national security. In response the dairy collective set out to foil their persecutors, hiding the cows over an eight-day cowhunt as an act of collective civil disobedience. This intriguing, if farcical, background affords the filmmakers with massive potential to create a distinctive view into Israeli/Palestinian relations, but it’s largely squandered due to ill-conceived creative decisions. While the material’s absurdity makes animation an obvious fit, the crude claymation employed is unappealing, and, worse still, the choice to anthropomorphize the cows as strident California-speaking stereotypes is bizarre, throughly offputting, and not funny – and ends up derailing the project as a whole.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV – with a simultaneous broadcast on Logo launching their new Logo Documentary Films series – this coming Monday, June 22: OUT IN THE NIGHT
blair dorosh-walther’s investigation of the truth behind a sensationalized case of “killer lesbians” had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year. Its extensive fest circuit included New Orleans, Human Rights Watch, Frameline, Outfest, Oakland Underground, Rocky Mountain Women’s fest, Goteborg, Pan African, Athena, Cleveland, RiverRun, and LGBT fests around the world.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, June 19: STATE OF CONTROL
Christian Johnston and Darren Mann’s attempt to document Tibetan repression debuted at Stanford’s United Nations Association fest in 2013. Other fest screenings included Woodstock and DocuWest. FilmBuff now makes it available across VOD platforms including iTunes.
Early into their documentary, American filmmakers Johnston and Mann explain that they didn’t intend to film themselves, but claim that they had no choice. Initially setting out to give voice to Tibetans struggling under Chinese rule, they instead begin to chronicle their own troubles attempting to make a film under China’s ever watchful eye. In the face of intimidation tactics, from constant surveillance by uniformed and undercover agents alike to vandalism of their equipment, the disappearance of their translator and guide to the hacking of their production team’s email accounts, the duo are warned in no uncertain terms that their probing into the Tibetan situation is officially unwelcome. While their doggedness is admirable, they do lose sight of their goal in their too-familiar turn to metafilmmaking, and end up more or less burying the more interesting stories of Tibetan activists like Dhondup Wangchen, imprisoned for making a film featuring candid interviews with Tibetans.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Frameline, the longest running LGBT film festival in the world, opens in San Francisco tonight, Thursday, June 18, and will present over 70 new features before it wraps up during SF Pride weekend on Sunday, June 28. More than 30 new and recent documentary features will screen, including Centerpiece film OUT TO WIN, Malcolm Ingram’s focus on professional LGBT athletes; and Showcase programs like FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, Sharon Shattuck’s personal reflection on her transgender dad. Highlights from the fest’s nonfiction programming is highlighted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD today, Wednesday, June 17: LORD MONTAGU
Luke Korem’s exploration of the life of an eccentric British aristocrat debuted at Cleveland in 2013. It went on to screen at Dallas, Newport Beach, Napa Valley, and St Louis, among others. Gravitas now makes the doc available on on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube Movies, Xbox, Sony Playstation, and Cable on Demand.
Lord Edward Montagu was born into privilege, becoming the Baron of Beaulieu, a 7,000 acre estate, at the age of only two years old. As an early adult in the post-WWII period, Montagu like so many others in the aristocracy, found the times – and the economy – changing, jeopardizing his ability to maintain Beaulieu as it had stood since the 13th century. His decision to open the estate to the general public as a tourist attraction saved Beaulieu, but this was shortlived after Montagu was embroiled in a legal scandal that soon saw him sentenced to jail for committing homosexual offenses. While open about his bisexuality, he persisted in denying any wrongdoing, paving the way for the eventual decriminalization of homosexuality in the UK. After his release, he set out to salvage his besmirched reputation, turning once again to the boon of Beaulieu, transforming his estate into Britain’s first motor museum, and becoming a consummate showman engaging with curious visitors, who came in droves. Korem stumbles a bit in framing the film as something of an autobiography, awkwardly utilizing actors to recite Montagu’s personal writing, but he does succeed in crafting a portrait that becomes increasingly more interesting as the film progresses. While interviews are a bit heavily utilized, and generally seem to avoid controversy, archival footage is particularly well employed to reveal a surprising life.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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