Coming back to POV for an encore presentation this Thursday, September 6: WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM
Heather Courtney’s profile of young veterans and their families premiered at last year’s SXSW. It’s gone out to screen at Full Frame, Los Angeles Philadelphia, Traverse City, Silverdocs, and Denver, among others, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release.
I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center next Wednesday, September 5: GIRL MODEL
Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s disturbing look at international modeling premiered at last year’s Toronto. Its extensive festival run has included Camden, Abu Dhabi, Rome, CPH: DOX, IDFA, SXSW, Cleveland, Full Frame, and Planete Doc Review, among others.
I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In one week, the 37th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival begins, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees to what is, for many, the true start of awards season. Annually screening close to 300 features, the majority world or international premieres, TIFF provides attendees with an advance look at some of the most eagerly-anticipated titles of the Fall.
I’ll be at the festival for its first half, hoping to see some of the buzzed about fiction offerings, but TIFF’s bounty of non-fiction programming will no doubt dominate my schedule. There are significantly more feature-length docs in the program this year – last year saw just under 40, while this year’s count is closer to 50, not including a few hybrids and retro screenings. Of these, more than half are part of the fest’s dedicated non-fiction section, TIFF Docs (formerly Real to Reel), programmed by Thom Powers, with the remainder represented across a variety of other fest sections. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
Yesterday marked the start of the 69th edition of the Venice International Film Festival, notable as the oldest film festival in the world. Running through September 8, the festival comes right before Toronto, and many titles appear in both events. Unlike TIFF, Venice is competitive, with eighteen titles in the main competition, and additional prizes awarded to films screening in the Orizzonti section.
Notably contained for a major international cinema event, the festival’s lineup includes just over 100 new features – 69 in the official selection, and an additional 39 presented in the autonomous sections selected by independent film associations. Retrospectives and shorts fill out the schedule, but it’s a far cry from the nearly 300 films presented in Toronto. Venice isn’t really known for its non-fiction programming, which is comprised of less than 30 new doc features. None appear in the official competition, special screenings, or the autonomous International Critics’ Week. The majority are included in the out of competition section, the retrospective Venice Classics, and in the autonomous Venice Days – and, frankly, most seem strictly of local interest. Still, I’d love to go to Venice at some point, and if I were there now, there are some docs I’d want to check out: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, September 4: BALLPLAYER: PELOTERO
Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Paley’s controversial look at Dominican baseball premiered at the Hamptons last year. Since then, it’s screened at festivals including Miami and Cleveland, and enjoyed a limited theatrical and VOD release.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to POV for an encore screening this Thursday, August 30: BETTER THIS WORLD
Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega’s exploration of a case of supposed domestic terrorism stemming from the 2008 Republican National Convention premiered at last year’s SXSW. Screenings followed at numerous festivals since then, including Full Frame, Hot Docs, Silverdocs, San Francisco, and many more.
I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Thursday, August 29 and to theatres in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin this Friday, August 31: THE AMBASSADOR
Mads Brügger’s controversial exposé of international corruption premiered at last year’s IDFA. It came stateside at Sundance and went on to screen extensively around the world, making stops at Thessaloniki Documentary, New Directors/New Films, Planete Doc, and Karlovy Vary, among others, before its US VOD release earlier this month.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
An in-depth and sensitive look at the lone survivors of commercial airplane crashes.
Director Ky Dickens profiles four people who, through the vagaries of fate, were the single survivors of otherwise fatal plane accidents. Having suffered through not only the physical trauma of a deadly crash, but also the emotional impact of losing loved ones, these individuals have typically been reticent to share their stories. Eschewing sensationalism, Dickens provides them with a platform to revisit their past and try to make sense of what it meant for them to survive when so many others perished. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, In the Works
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, August 28: FAMILY AFFAIR
Chico Colvard’s disturbing unearthing of family secrets made its world premiere at Sundance in 2010. Additional festivals included Hot Docs, Full Frame, Silverdocs, Atlanta, and many more, before making its debut on OWN earlier this year.
I previously wrote about the film upon its broadcast premiere here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The International Documentary Association’s 16th annual DocuWeeks showcase wraps up this Thursday in NYC and next Thursday, August 30 in LA. Though the event is technically not a film festival, but instead a grouping of individual films under a common banner, each seeking to qualify for an Oscar nomination, I’m briefly covering a number of this year’s films together in this roundup. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief
what (not) to doc 