Wrapping up my reactions to films from this year’s Hot Docs, this post looks at a few of the remaining programming sections not covered in previous posts (here, here, and here). These include the playful and subversive Nightvision, thematic focus on Rule Breakers & Innovators, and the art, music, and culture strand Next. Continue reading
Category Archives: Film
Hot Docs 2013 in Brief, Part Four: Nightvision, Rule Breakers & Next
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
On TV: DETROPIA
Coming to PBS’ Independent Lens next Monday, May 27: DETROPIA
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s impressionistic portrait of Detroit made its debut at Sundance last year, picking up the best documentary editing award. Its fest circuit included True/False, Cleveland, Hot Docs, DocAviv, Silverdocs, Milwaukee, Documentary Edge, and Traverse City, among others. Following a theatrical release, the doc made the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres: WE STEAL SECRETS
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 24: WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS
Alex Gibney’s exploration of the history of Julian Assange’s controversial site, and its intersection with Bradley Manning, had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance. Since then, the doc has screened at Sydney and is part of Seattle’s lineup.
My pre-Sundance profile on the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Hot Docs 2013 in Brief, Part Three: Special Presentations & World Showcase
Next in my Hot Docs coverage catch up are a selection of films appearing in the festival’s non-competitive Special Presentations and World Showcase sections. I’ll round it up with one additional post later this week looking at the remaining programming strands. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
In Theatres: DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK: PICK-UP BASKETBALL, NYC
Coming to the Maysles Cinema today, Wednesday, May 22: DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK: PICK-UP BASKETBALL, NYC
Kevin Couliau and Bobbito Garcia’s tribute to outdoor court basketball made its world premiere at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. It went on to screen at Urbanworld, Philadelphia Awesome Festival, New Jersey, and Toronto’s Regent Park, picking up awards at several. After its week run at the Maysles, the film will expand to other venues in NYC and around the country via Tugg.
Expressing a deep love not only for basketball but for the specific culture of New York City’s playgrounds, Garcia and Couliau’s film takes an expansive look at the lasting influence street ball has had on players and the game itself. In many ways, the doc is a guided tour of the city’s park courts and, most effectively, its legendary players – not only men who made it to the NBA, but old school street players like Pee Wee Kirkland and Kid Sundance Davis. Interviews from these men and others convey a clear sense of the positive impact of their experiences on the court, in addition to often very funny anecdotes about the unwritten set of rules unique to each park, and limited but effective archival footage of court play, complete with amazing period fashion. This sense of living history manages to elevate the film from its very unfocused, meandering survey structure – its weakest aspect. Still, despite this looseness, fans of the game will find plenty to like, and even non-fans should respond to this look at street-level cultural history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Indiewire @ Hulu Docs: Cinephilia
With the currently-running Cannes Film Festival setting the arthouse slate for the upcoming year, my latest curated selections for Hulu’s Documentaries page celebrate cinephilia. Watch these films about filmmakers and filmmaking for free now!
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Hot Docs 2013 in Brief, Part Two: Competitions
As with my recent Tribeca roundups, I’m going to continue my attempt to catch up on festival coverage with a series of posts this week on Hot Docs, which wrapped up its 20th anniversary edition earlier this month. I previously wrote about AMERICAN COMMUNE, THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE, I WILL BE MURDERED, and RIVER in a festival dispatch for Indiewire here, but am planning to share my thoughts on more then thirty more films. This post covers docs featured in the two competition sections, International Spectrum and Canadian Spectrum. The winners of the former included: Best International Feature Documentary to DRAGON GIRLS, Special Jury Prize to CLOUDY MOUNTAINS, HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award to 12 O’CLOCK BOYS, and Best Mid-Length Documentary to THE CIRCLE. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
In Theatres: PLIMPTON!
Coming to the theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, May 22: PLIMPTON! STARRING GEORGE PLIMPTON AS HIMSELF
Tom Bean and Luke Poling’s portrait of an unlikely citizen celebrity premiered at Silverdocs last year. Its fest run has included DOC NYC, Martha’s Vineyard, Camden, Hamptons, Hot Springs, Austin, Palm Springs, Cleveland, Oxford, and RiverRun, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Silverdocs for Indiewire, saying:
Tom Bean and Luke Poling’s comprehensive portrait of the late Renaissance/Everyman made its world premiere at the festival this week. Known for both his forays into participatory journalism and as the co-founder/editor of THE PARIS REVIEW, Plimpton emerges as a fascinating subject – willing to be the ultimate amateur – trying his hand at stand-up, football, and the flying trapeze for the sake of an experiential story – despite criticisms, while also cultivating the talents of multiple generations of authors through his influential journal. Smartly constructed, using copious archival interviews to allow Plimpton to largely tell his own story, Bean and Poling’s documentary is a brilliant example of creative biographical filmmaking.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Seattle International Film Festival 2013: Documentary Overview
The 39th edition of the Seattle International Film Festival began this past Thursday, May 16 and runs through Sunday, June 9, making it among the longest and biggest film festivals in the world. With a huge lineup which mixes a number of world and North American premieres with standouts from films that have recently debuted at other major fests like Toronto, Berlin, Sundance, and SXSW, the event has plenty to offer Seattle cinephiles. This includes a robust nonfiction component, with nearly 70 documentary features as part of its 200 strong feature program, including its high profile Centerpiece gala slot, Sundance alum TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM. This year, I’ve been serving as a documentary programming consultant to the festival, so I’ll be attending for about a week at the end of the month. Highlighted below are a number of new docs to check out from the different sections of the festival: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: LA SOURCE
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21: LA SOURCE
Patrick Shen’s look at one Haitian man’s quest to improve his village debuted at Silverdocs last year. It went on to screen at DocuWeeks, DocuWest, Big Sky, Newport Beach, Sarasota, Atlanta, and Palm Springs, among other fests.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 