Coming to theatres today, Friday, October 19: SEXY BABY
Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus’ exploration of the consequences of our sex-focused society premiered earlier this year at Tribeca. It’s gone on to screen at Hot Docs, Newport Beach, and Traverse City, picking up an award at the latter.
I included the film in my Tribeca roundup here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Decades before Oprah Winfrey and Arsenio Hall established African Americans as popular talk show hosts, Ellis Haizlip paved the way with his PBS show SOUL!
In 1968, against the backdrop of the radical changes wrought by the Civil Rights movement, Haizlip conceived of and launched SOUL!, which has been referred to as “the Black TONIGHT SHOW,” on a local New York station. By 1969, the hour-long weekly series began being broadcast nationwide on PBS – the only show of its kind, produced by and geared toward African Americans. Lasting five seasons, SOUL! exposed the country to the diversity of African American arts, music, culture, and politics, often presenting the first TV appearances of entertainers who became household names. Directors Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip set out to share the story of SOUL!, and, significantly, that of Haizlip – an openly gay, politically active African American man – with a new generation. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 19: WE ARE LEGION: THE STORY OF THE HACKTAVISTS
Brian Knappenberger’s exploration of the radical Anonymous hacker collective premiered at Slamdance at the beginning of the year. It went on to screen at SXSW, Independent Film Festival Boston, Hot Docs, Seattle, Sheffield, SilverDocs, Traverse City, and Fantasia, picking up an audience award at the latter.
I included the film in my SXSW coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 19: BROOKLYN CASTLE
Katie Dellamaggiore’s portrait of junior high school chess players won an audience award at its world premiere earlier this year at SXSW. Its festival circuit has included Dallas, Cleveland, Hot Docs, Newport Beach, and Silverdocs.
I included the film in my SXSW coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Anthology Film Archives tomorrow, Friday, October 19: BESTIAIRE
Denis Côté’s look at how we view animals made its premiere at Sundance earlier this year. It went on to screen at Berlin, Cinema du Reel, New Horizons, and Toronto, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Available on DVD beginning this week: HER MASTER’S VOICE
Nina Conti’s surprisingly moving look at her ventriloquism career premiered at SXSW this year, winning an audience award. Its festival circuit included stops at Hot Docs, Atlanta, Woods Hole, and the London doc fest, as well as Rooftop Films.
I included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
My latest curated selections for Hulu’s Documentaries page looks at critiques of journalism and the mass media – potent reminders of their influence and potential biases as we head into next month’s pivotal election. Watch these now for free!
For more information about the selections, see my Indiewire article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs
Coming to theatres this Friday, October 19: THE FLAT
Arnon Goldfinger’s exploration of his Jewish family’s strange connection to Germany’s Nazi past premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival last year, where it won the best documentary director prize. Since then, it has also picked up awards at Tribeca, Traverse City, Documentary Edge, and Krakow, as well as from the Israeli Film Academy, among others.
I included the film in my Tribeca coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO this Thursday, October 18: ETHEL
Rory Kennedy’s profile of her mother made its world premiere at Sundance this January. It’s been warmly received on the festival circuit, screening at Full Frame, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Sarasota, Nantucket, Provincetown, Traverse City, and Ashland, among others, picking up multiple awards along the way.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, October 16: CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY
Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf’s profile of the musician’s coming out premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year. Additional stops on the festival circuit included Frameline, NewFest, Nashville, Palm Springs, and Atlanta’s Out on Film, among others.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 