Coming to VOD next Tuesday, February 26: BEWARE OF MR BAKER
Jay Bulger’s profile of the notorious rock musician Ginger Baker had its world premiere a year ago at SXSW, where it won the Best Documentary Award. It went on to screen at other notable events, including Hot Docs, Seattle, Silverdocs, and London, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release in the late Fall. It now comes to Cable VOD as well as iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu.
I previously wrote about the doc out of SXSW here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
My latest curated selections for Hulu’s Documentaries page are inspired by this year’s feature and short documentary Academy Award nominees. Watch these docs now, which explore similar topics and themes, as we anticipate the winners on Sunday night.
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs
Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, February 26: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
David France’s revisitation of the pivotal activism that led to vital AIDS treatments had its world premiere at Sundance last year. A robust festival circuit has followed, including True/False, Silverdocs, New Directors/New Films, San Francisco, and Outfest, among others, in addition to a theatrical release. Having already won the Gotham Award for Best Documentary and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film, it is one of the five finalists for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, which will be announced this weekend.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’ Independent Lens next Monday, February 25: AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
Alison Klayman’s portrait of the famed Chinese artist/activist had its world premiere at Sundance last year, where it received a special jury prize. It had an extensive festival life, screening at Berlin, True/False, Miami, Full Frame, Silverdocs, Hot Docs, and Human Rights Watch, among many others, and was shortlisted for the Academy Award after a limited theatrical release.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Opening tomorrow, Tuesday, February 19 and running through Sunday, February 24, Punto de Vista: The International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra holds its eighth edition in Pamplona, Spain. Championing innovation and risk-taking, the festival tends to focus on more formally inventive or rigorous projects, including hybrids, rather than strictly social issue-oriented documentaries. I’ve never attended, but am intrigued by their eclectic programming, and by their commitment to screen some work that might not typically be made at most non-fiction events, such as the work in their avant-garde section, The Central Region. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
The harrowing experiences faced by a lesbian and a gay man reveal a culture of intolerance in Jamaica.
Referred to by human rights groups as the most homophobic place on earth, Jamaica maintains draconian sodomy laws and has been notable for its high incidence of anti-LGBT violence and rhetoric, especially in its popular music. In a culture where the denial of dignity and rights to LGBT people is a given, director Micah Fink profiles two individuals who have faced persecution and near-death because of their sexuality: Human rights activist and lawyer Maurice, forced to flee the country fearing death threats after the media reported on his marriage to a man, and young mother Simone, gunned down just outside her own home. Their stories reveal the faces of the victims of homophobia and the consequences of a country seemingly unwilling to deal with such human rights abuses. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, February 19: UNDEFEATED
Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin’s look at a coach and his underfunded high school football team premiered at SXSW in 2011. It went on to Toronto, Dubai, Chicago, and Philadelphia, among other festivals, and enjoyed a successful theatrical release, culminating in winning last year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to BAM for its third edition this weekend, New Voices in Black Cinema offers a showcase for new films exploring the black experience both in the US and internationally. Co-presented with the ActNow Foundation, a film and theatre company that provides a platform for artists of color, the series presents sixteen programs between Friday, February 15 and Monday, February 18.
Among this number are five documentaries, the best known being Ken Burns, David McMahon, and Sarah Burns’ indepth revisitation of criminal injustice in NYC, THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE. Making their NYC premieres are four other docs: Andy Mundy-Castle’s THE FADE (pictured), a week in the lives of four barbers in four distinct environments; Oliver Hardt’s THE UNITED STATES OF HOODOO, a consideration of the influence of traditional African spirituality on American pop culture; Fred Kuwornu’s 18 IUS SOLI, which explores the impact of the Italian law that denies automatic citizenship to Italian-born children of immigrants; and Jason Orr’s epic FUNK JAZZ KAFÉ: DIARY OF A DECADE, an indepth look at the artistic renaissance stemming from Atlanta’s music scene of the 1980s.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center and to VOD tomorrow, Friday, February 15: THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES
Chris James Thompson’s exploration of the infamous serial killer had its world premiere at last year’s SXSW (under the original title JEFF). Its festival circuit has included Hot Docs, BFI London, and Milwaukee, among others. The film expand theatrically to select cities next week and into March. It will be available on Cable VOD platforms including Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, and Time Warner, DirecTV, and via iTunes, Xbox, and SundanceNOW.
I included the doc in my SXSW coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Missoula MT’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival opens this Friday, February 15 and runs through Sunday, February 24. Montana’s largest film event, the festival annually features more than a hundred selections and welcomes scores of visiting filmmakers to experience Big Sky Country. While I’ve never attended, I’ve heard glowing reports from those who have, and the event has certainly established itself on the documentary festival circuit. Following are some feature highlights from this year’s edition, which, in addition to screening a robust selection of new films, also includes a retrospective series of films from the fest’s first decade; Resistance,” a thematic grouping of films about social unrest; “Stories from the City,” docs on NYC; sidebars on Montana-made films, seniors, indigenous communities, and art; and a retrospective of Stanley Nelson’s work.
Big Sky’s Feature Competition includes a couple of Sundance alums, including big winner BLOOD BROTHER, as well as 99% – THE OCCUPY WALL STREET COLLABORATIVE FILM, plus DOC NYC alums BETTING THE FARM and THE MOSUO SISTERS. Other titles include the world premiere of Logan Hendricks’ LOVE AT A CERTAIN AGE, focusing on intimacy and relationships among seniors; YOUNG LAKOTA (pictured), Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt’s (THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX) portrait of a college student and her young friend who become involved in reservation politics; Andrew Berends’ DELTA BOYS, an exploration of the struggle of the people of the Niger Delta against their corrupt government; and Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo’s JEPPE ON A FRIDAY, a day-in-the-life of a Johannesburg neighborhood.
The Big Sky Award Competition includes, among other titles, Maxine Trump’s MUSICWOOD, where the future of guitar manufacturing is caught up in a political, economic, and environmental controversy; Brian Lindstrom’s ALIEN BOY: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JAMES CHASSE, an investigation into the death of a schizophrenic man at the hands of Portland OR police; Brian Truglio’s RACING THE REZ (pictured), about rival high school Native American cross-country runners; and Sabrina Lee and Shasta Grenier’s NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT, which explores the healing power of fishing on wounded veterans.
Outside of the competition titles are a mix of a number of recent docs that have been well-represented elsewhere on the festival circuit, as well as others that perhaps may not be as recognizable but are worth a look. Among these are TC Johnstone’s RISING FROM THE ASHES, about the hope engendered by the development of a professional Rwandan cycling team; Red Tremmel’s EXOTIC WORLD, following the efforts of a former dancer to keep her small desert burlesque museum open; Brent Chesanek’s post-apocalyptic hybrid CITY WORLD; Caroline Båcle’s LOST RIVERS, an exploration of now-buried urban waterways; Mike Gualdoni’s DIGNITY HARBOR, a portrait of a homeless community in winter; Mike Scholtz’s WILD BILL’S RUN (pictured), which revisits the unbelievable legend of a snowmobiling outlaw in 1972; and Lindsay Pollock and Sam Lawlor’s THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, the story of Holocaust survivors Thomas and Edith, separated by six decades.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
