Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to Netflix today, Tuesday, September 15:
HOPE FROZEN

Director:
Pailin Wedel

World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Transilvania, Bergen, San Diego Asian, Cucalorus, Zurich, Oxford, Hawaii, Hot Springs, Guangzhou, Cleveland

About:
A family seeks a potential second chance at life for their toddler.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
After their two-year-old daughter succumbs to cancer, a Thai couple decides to make her the youngest person to undergo the cryopreservation process, with the hope that she will have another chance at life in the future. When their story becomes national news, the family faces criticism from religious and spiritual groups. Consumed with grief, the family addresses the implications of their choice, sending their teenage son on a journey around the world to discover the scientific possibilities of cryogenic revival.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15:
HOUSE OF CARDIN

Directors:
P David Ebersole and Todd Hughes

World Premiere:
Venice 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Chicago, Frameline, Provincetown, Palm Springs, Cleveland, RiverRun, Outfest

About:
A portrait of legendary fashion designer Pierre Cardin.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to POV tonight, Monday, September 14:
LOVE CHILD

Director:
Eva Mulvad

World Premiere:
Toronto 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Chicago, Docaviv, Budapest, Göteborg, Docs Against Gravity

About:
An illicit love affair leads an Iranian couple to seek asylum.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Eva Mulvad’s film opens with a desperate man in Tehran telling the camera, “I’m not sure if, tomorrow, I’ll be dead or alive.” This is Sahand, who has been in a long-term adulterous relationship with Leila, despite Iran’s threat of the death penalty for infidelity. Now, the couple is fleeing the country with Mani, their four-year-old love child. Mulvad follows their journey for seven years as their love holds them together throughout an epic drama.

Coming to select theatres and to virtual cinemas today, Wednesday, September 9:
JIMMY CARTER: ROCK & ROLL PRESIDENT

Director:
Mary Wharton

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, AFI Docs

About:
A consideration of the importance of popular music in the life and political career of the former US president.

Presidential biographies are often fairly staid affairs, stories of how privilege and/or determination allowed the subject to become a great leader and take the seat of the highest office in the country, followed by a recitation of his great achievements or challenge while in power. Mary Wharton’s version is refreshingly different, using the unique lens of music to frame the story of the 39th president. Far from simply acknowledging that Jimmy Carter liked rock ‘n’ roll – which, while in and of itself telling of a generational difference between older politicians – the film explores how he marshalled support from musicians like the Allman Brothers and Jimmy Buffett on his campaign to help attract younger voters to get him elected, as well as his canny use of music as a soft power during his administration, such as his arranging of a trip to Nashville for the Chinese ambassador to the US. While the focus on music fades away a bit in the final stretch of Wharton’s film, its impact is clearly established, making for an enjoyably nostalgic and creative appreciation of Jimmy Carter and of his embrace of music’s ability to unify audiences.

New to DVD this week:
LOS REYES

Directors:
Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff

World Premiere:
IDFA 2018

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Film Comment Selects, DocPoint, Göteborg, Montclair, Biografilm, Miami, Portland

About:
A portrait of two stray dogs living in a Chilean skatepark.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s NOVA tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9:
HUMAN NATURE

Director:
Adam Bolt

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Full Frame, AFI Docs, CPH:DOX

About:
An exploration of the potential implications of a major DNA technology.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, Seprtember 8:
THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS

Director:
Patricio Guzmán

World Premiere:
Cannes 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Biografilm, San Sebastian, Busan, Chicago

About:
The continuation of the master documentarian’s exploration of Chile’s fraught history.

I previously wrote about the doc here.