Category Archives: Film

Now available on VOD: TCHOUPITOULAS

The Ross Brothers’ immersive exploration of New Orleans debuted last year at SXSW. It went on to screen at BAMcinemaFest, Silverdocs, and CPH:DOX, and claiming awards at Hot Docs, Ashland, and Dallas. The film is now available on demand and digital via iTunes and through Oscilloscope’s site.

I wrote about the doc out of SXSW here.

Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Friday, April 19: PORTRAIT OF JASON

Shirley Clarke’s landmark outsider profile made its official premiere at the 5th New York Film Festival in 1967, going on to a theatrical release immediately after. While critics were initially unkind, a response to both the rawness of Clarke’s cinema verité and to her outspoken subject, the documentary went on to be hailed as a classic, pioneering study in black and gay identity. As part of an initiative to re-present Clarke’s films to new audiences, Milestone Films and the Academy Film Archive have restored the doc, bringing their efforts to the Berlinale earlier this year.

The film is stunning in its simplicity, announced from the very beginning of the film, as the audience hears Jason Holliday introduce himself, only to immediately offer up a secondary name, Aaron Payne, his birth name. As video catches up with audio – the film was shot over twelve hours one evening, with the camera needing to be reloaded several times, fading to black or losing focus even as the audio continues – viewers meet the 33-year-old black, gay, self-described hustler who serves as the sole subject of the camera for the film’s entire running time. As signaled by his acknowledgment of the construct of “Jason Holliday,” a name and identity Payne adopted in his time in the mecca of San Francisco, what follows is in many ways also a construct, even a screentest of sorts, as Holliday erupts in a stream-of-consciousness interview/audition, aided by Clarke and her collaborators’ prompting. He covers an astonishing amount of territory, from his abusive family life to his sly manipulation of older white women for profit, frank stories of sexual interests and drug use, and never-to-be-realized, half-serious dreams of putting together a nightclub act. Several times, he’s asked to tell one or another of his standard stories, and Holliday eagerly complies, loving the camera and the chance to be the star of his own film. The effect is mesmerizing, even now in an age when viewers are much more used to documentary or YouTube subjects speaking at length about their lives. Revelatory about race, sexuality, gender, and class, Clarke’s provocative film is an absolute must-see.

Coming to NYC’s Cinema Village this Friday, April 19: HERMAN’S HOUSE

Angad Singh Bhalla’s exploration of life in solitary confinement made its debut at True/False last year. It went on to screen at Full Frame, Hot Docs, Harlem, Camden, Hamptons, Antenna, New Orleans, RIDM, and Big Sky, among others.

I included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, April 16: SUSHI: THE GLOBAL CATCH

Mark Hall’s exploration of the impact of the global appetite for sushi made its world premiere at Seattle in 2011, where it won a special jury prize. The film scored additional wins at the Hawaii Ocean Film Festival and the San Francisco Green Film Festival, in addition to screening at IDFA, Vancouver, Planete Doc, Biografa, and Tallgrass, among others. FilmBuff now makes the doc available on iTunes, Amazon, Movies on Demand, PlayStation, XBOX, Vudu, and CinemaNow.

Recognizing that sushi has long ago moved from its original home in Japan to become a worldwide cuisine of choice, the film details some of the consequences of its expansive appeal. Culturally, when it traditionally took long years of apprenticeship to become a sushi master, the demand has led to shortcuts and surprising regional-driven variations on the food. Economically and environmentally, the situation is decidedly more troubling, as Hall demonstrates with a particular focus on bluefin tuna. With the growth of sushi consumption in new markets – China in particular is singled out, but Russia and Brazil aren’t far behind – there’s a significant threat to even the short term sustainability of this species of tuna, not to mention other sealife that lives with it in a delicate ecological balance. While the film perhaps aims to be too comprehensive and suffers by spreading its net too wide, it brings up thoughtful points about sustainable production and responsible consumption, profiling different initiatives and their advocates, while simultaneously presenting viewers with engaging history about the cuisine.

Coming to NYC’s Film Forum this Wednesday, April 17: DECEPTIVE PRACTICE: THE MYSTERIES AND MENTORS OF RICKY JAY

Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein’s ode to the magicians made its premiere at the New York Film Festival last Fall. It will screen at the upcoming San Francisco International Film Festival and expand its theatrical run to other cities next month and into June.

I wrote about the doc out of the NYFF here.

Coming to PBS tomorrow Tuesday, April 16: THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE

Sarah Burns, David McMahon, and Ken Burns’ examination of the Central Park jogger case made its debut at Cannes last year. It went on to screen at Telluride, Toronto, and DOC NYC, and had a theatrical and VOD release.

I included the doc in my Toronto roundup here.