Category Archives: Film

November 5, 2012 · 1:31 PM

RIDM 2012 Overview

Montreal’s documentary film festival, RIDM (or Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, if you parlez français), celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with over 100 films and events. Beginning this Wednesday, November 7 and running through Sunday, November 18, the festival functions as a showcase for non-fiction works from Quebec and around the world, and was founded by filmmakers to serve filmmakers and the film industry while also sharing and celebrating innovative documentary cinema with the general public.

While I’ve not yet managed to attend the festival – a shame since I love Montréal – I’m impressed by the breadth of the programming, which opens with Peter Mettler’s cinematic essay THE END OF TIME, and closes with Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret’s self-reflective JOURNAL DE FRANCE. If I wasn’t busy with DOC NYC and attending, the following are among the new films I’d want to check out: Continue reading →

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November 5, 2012 · 12:01 PM

2012 DOC NYC in Focus: GREAT PERFORMANCES

The countdown to DOC NYC continues with a look at the second of six thematic shorts collections that I programmed for the festival. Fittingly the city know internationally for its theatre, dance, and other arts serves as a host to a program that celebrates performers, their struggles, and their triumphs.

DOC NYC Program Description:

GREAT PERFORMANCES:
Saturday, November 10 at 11:00am
These shorts shine a spotlight on dance, music, and performance art. STILL MOVING: PILOBOLUS AT FORTY (38 min, Jeffrey Ruoff) reveals the surprising past and still vibrant present of the legendary Connecticut-based modern dance troupe. ROBOT MAN (15 min, Mark Scalese) offers a day in the life of a familiar street performer. A BROADWAY LULLABY (40 min, Barbara Rick) brings together Broadway luminaries like Vanessa Williams, Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, Stephen Schwartz, and Raul Esparza to create a benefit CD to combat breast cancer.

Why You Should Attend:
After the week New Yorkers have just had, not to mention our neighbors in New Jersey and elsewhere in Sandy’s path, audiences can definitely benefit from the uplift that these shorts provide. Artists practicing their passion, for either the love of the art itself, or to help others, will serve as either an escape, or an inspiration.

More Info:
To purchase tickets, follow the link from the program page by clicking on the program title above.

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November 2, 2012 · 1:31 PM

In the Works: FINDING KUKAN

A filmmaker sets out to uncover the forgotten story of a Chinese-American filmmaker who was behind a lost Oscar-winning documentary, and discovers much more.

Seeking Asian-American film role models, Hawaiian filmmaker Robin Lung learned of the little-remembered author, actress, and lecturer, Li Ling-Ai, herself Hawaiian. Ling-Ai was involved in the production of KUKAN, a 1941 documentary about China’s struggle against Japan prior to WWII – a film recognized with an honorary Oscar before the Academy had a Best Documentary category, and, sadly the sole documentary Oscar winner for which there were no known existing film prints or even video copies. In the process of tracking down information about Ling-Ai, and clarifying her role on the film, which was credited to Rey Scott, a freelance photographer who had never made a film before, Lung manages to do what archivists had not been able to – find a copy of the lost KUKAN! Her documentary tells the story of that discovery, and reintroduces Scott, and, most importantly, Ling-Ai to the world. Continue reading →

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November 2, 2012 · 12:01 PM

2012 DOC NYC in Focus: COMMON GROUND

As the shorts programmer for DOC NYC, I’ve organized six collections of shorts that will screen at the IFC Center. Organized thematically, each program includes three or more films demonstrating the ability of the short form to explore a versatile range of unforgettable characters and pressing topics. The first of these looks at places and the people who find unity there together.

DOC NYC Program Description:

COMMON GROUND:
Friday, November 9 at 2:15pm
These five shorts explore the power of community and common bonds. INDIAN SUMMER (17 min, Mridu Chandra) finds young Indian Americans at a Hindu summer camp. AN AMERICAN MOSQUE (19 min, David Washburn) shows the resilience of rural Californian Muslims when faced with a hate crime. SPOILS: EXTRAORDINARY HARVEST (21 min, Alex Mallis) profiles diverse New Yorkers who are united by a common nocturnal activity. WOLF MOUNTAIN (7 min, Sam Price-Waldman, Brendan Nahmias, Dan Duran) explores the spiritual link between a woman and the wolves she cares for. GREENLAND YEAR ZERO (25 min, Anders Graver, Niels Bjørn) reveals the lives of teenagers in a small Greenland town poised for great change.

Why You Should Attend:
Unfortunately, there are few opportunities for short films to find public exhibition outlets in the US – outside of film festivals. Fests provide the chance for audiences to experience this work communally – and given this program’s theme, that’s especially appropriate, as filmmakers reveal community through religion, culture, and subculture.

More Info:
To purchase tickets, follow the link from the program page by clicking on the program title above, or consider purchasing a DOC NYC Insider Pass, which grants access to all weekday films, panels, and events beginning before 5pm.

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November 1, 2012 · 1:31 PM

2012 DOC NYC in Focus: Doc-A-Thon Day 1 – Get the Money

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m planning on posting about the programming I’ve been responsible for at DOC NYC, which begins next week. To start things off, this post looks at the first day of this year’s newly-named and expanded panel series, Doc-A-Thon, which offers audiences access to some of non-fiction’s leading filmmakers and industry players for in-depth discussions and masterclasses at the IFC Center between 10:30am-5:00pm on weekdays during the festival, which runs through Thursday, November 15.

Each day of Doc-A-Thon has a structuring theme that informs the content of its corresponding four panels, and roughly follows the steps of documentary filmmaking. Appropriately enough, Day 1, Friday, November 9, leads off with “Get the Money.” Recognizing that filmmaking can be quite costly, Day 1’s panels explore the opportunities for documentary funding in four key areas. Continue reading →

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November 1, 2012 · 12:01 PM

DOC NYC 2012 Overview

In one week, New York’s premier documentary festival, DOC NYC, kicks off its third edition. Running Thursday, November 8 through Thursday, November 15, the festival, run by Raphaela Neihausen and Thom Powers, boasts an expanded line-up of over 100 events, plus the addition of two new members to the programming team, Mystelle Brabee on features, and myself on shorts and panels. I’m planning on running brief posts on the latter beginning later today and running through the festival. While I of course encourage everyone to see as much of DOC NYC’s offerings as possible, below I’m shining the spotlight on a selection from each section of the festival. Continue reading →

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October 31, 2012 · 12:01 PM

Special Screening: OUR HOUSE

Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema as part of its Doc Watchers series next Monday, November 5: OUR HOUSE

Greg King and David Teague’s portrait of an anarchist Christian-run homeless squat premiered at Hot Docs in 2010. It went on to screen in Brooklyn, Thin Line, Duck City, and deadCENTER, claiming the grand jury prize at the latter.

Released from Rikers Island with nowhere to go, Dan, a former post office worker who turned to crime to support his drug habit, meets Derek, himself a former addict. Like Dan, who found God behind bars, Derek and his partner JP are both Christians, but, in contrast to the stereotype of close-minded, Christian conservatives, they are both radically progressive, and former drug addicts themselves. Recognizing the failure of the traditional shelter system, they have converted an abandoned Brooklyn warehouse into a squat to help homeless people. They liken themselves to social workers, who just happen to live communally with their charges – JP is actually simultaneously studying to become a social worker. The film details life in their unorthodox community until their Christian landlord, who has essentially agreed to their set-up, faces the realities of the neighborhood’s gentrification and informs Derek and JP that the building is being torn down and redeveloped. With their eviction looming, Dan and the other residents scramble to find a new place to call home. King and Teague’s film has a rough-hewn look, matching its subjects and location, and captures this makeshift family with a quiet authenticity.

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October 30, 2012 · 12:01 PM

On VOD: WE ARE LEGION

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 30: WE ARE LEGION: THE STORY OF THE HACKTAVISTS

Brian Knappenberger’s look at Anonymous made its premiere at Slamdance earlier this year. Its festival circuit has included SXSW, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Traverse City, Silverdocs, and Seattle, among others. FilmBuff brings the doc to VOD via iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube Movies, and XBox.

I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.

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October 29, 2012 · 12:01 PM

On DVD: THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday October 30: THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE

Marie Losier’s portrait of a unique artistic partnership premiered at Berlin in 2011, winning a Teddy Award. It had an extensive festival run, including SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, San Francisco, FIDM, and CPH:DOX, among others, as well as a limited theatrical engagement.

I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.

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October 26, 2012 · 1:31 PM

CPH:DOX 2012 Overview

CPH:DOX, the better-known name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, begins next week and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The festival is the largest doc-specific event in Scandinavia, and has developed a reputation for its broad conception of non-fiction, often including more experimental, art cinema, and hybrid (or even genre-free) work in its impressive line-up. To this point, the festival (in)famously awarded Harmony Korine’s TRASH HUMPERS its grand jury prize back in 2009.

By my count, there are approximately 150 feature-length docs being presented this year, beginning with the controversial THE ACT OF KILLING, by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and Anonymous, which made quite an impression out of both Telluride and Toronto, and opens the festival a couple of days early, on Tuesday, October 30. The closing film, Daniel Dencik’s Greenland adventure voyage, THE EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD (pictured), screens on Friday, November 9 (though the festival continues for two more days, til Sunday, November 11). Though I’ve always been curious about the event, I’ve never made it out to the festival; if I were attending, the following titles would be on my list: Continue reading →

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