Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 11:
MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND
Director:
Midge Costin
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Cannes, BFI London, Munich, Deauville, Sitges
About:
An exploration of the largely overlooked history and craft of film sound.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Pure Nonfiction series tonight, Tuesday, February 11:
DESERT ONE
Director:
Barbara Kopple
World Premiere:
Toronto 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Double Exposure, Palm Springs
About:
An up-close look at the mission to free American hostages during the 1979 Iranian revolution
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Two-time Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple re-examines the story of Americans taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. Focusing on a rescue mission, the film plays like a thriller. Kopple draws upon never-before-heard audiotapes from inside the White House, as well as new interviews with hostages, rescuers, Iranians, and even President Carter, whose 1980 election loss to Ronald Reagan was greatly influenced by this decisive chapter of history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 10:
LEFTOVER WOMEN
Directors:
Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Göteborg, New Zealand, Atlantic, Palm Springs, Sydney, Hot Docs, Human Rights Watch London
About:
An exploration of the challenges faced by unmarried women in China.
The Chinese equivalent of “old maid,” the judgemental phrase “leftover women” refers to women over the age of 27 who have not yet married. With the gender balance off in the country due to its past one-child policy, femicide, and selective abortions of female embryos, women are strongly encouraged to marry early for the good of the country, often laying aside professional ambitions lest they be deemed selfish. Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia explore the familial, social, and state pressure on such women by profiling three subjects living in Beijing, ranging in age from 28-36 – attorney Qui Hau Mei, radio host Xu Min, and film professor Gai Qi. Taking an observational approach, the filmmakers follow these women as they wrestle with whether they want to get married or not, and include visits with matchmakers, attempts at online dating, government organized mass blind-dating events, and parent-led spouse shopping. In the process, the film capably demonstrates ingrained gender, class, and regional biases, and the central role parents themselves take in reinforcing these within Chinese society.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to WORLD Channel’s AfroPoP tonight, Monday, February 10:
DADDY AND THE WARLORD
Director:
Shamira Raphaëla
Co-Director:
Clarice Gargard
World Premiere:
Movies That Matter 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Visions du Reel, Hot Docs, Nederlands
About:
A personal investigation of uncomfortable family connections to a notorious dictator.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Journalist Clarice Gargard is on a mission to discover the truth about her semi-estranged yet beloved father: was he a moral, heroic man? Or did he knowingly abet a murderous dictator? Disentangling the web of stories surrounding her father’s ties to ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor, Clarice and director Shamira Raphaëla uncover increasingly sinister secrets. The result is a thought-provoking tale that poses the question: how much truth is too much?
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Friday, February 7:
16 BARS
Director:
Samuel Bathrick
Premiere:
DocLands 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Miami, Big Sky Doc, Salem, Virginia, Milwaukee
About:
An acclaimed musician leads a transformative program in a Virginia jail.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
SERENDIPITY
Director:
Prune Nourry
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Doc Fortnight, Mill Valley
About:
A personal reflection of the filmmaker/artist’s work after a breast cancer diagnosis.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
SXSW has announced the remainder of its feature film line-up today, for a total of 135 projects. Following is the list of documentary features just revealed, broken down by section:
Festival Favorites:
I’M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME
BE WATER
Director: Bao Nguyen
A layered and intimate portrait of Bruce Lee, an underdog who was able to transcend racism, colonialism, and xenophobia to become one of the most influential cultural figures of our time.
BOYS STATE
Directors: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
A political coming-of-age story examining the health of American democracy through an unusual experiment in which a thousand 17-year-old boys from across Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
CODED BIAS
Director: Shalini Kantayya
MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini makes a startling discovery that most facial recognition does not accurately see dark-skinned faces, spurring her transformation from scientist to tireless advocate to push for first-ever legislation.
FEELS GOOD MAN
Director: Arthur Jones
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness.
I’M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME
Director: Karen Bernstein
Fellini meets Motown in this story of one man’s search for self-acceptance, a journey that includes tabloid celebrity, Tupperware parties, and two coming outs – first as a straight woman, then as the gay man he was meant to be.
MUCHO MUCHO AMOR
Directors: Cristina Costantini, Kareem Tabsch
The iconic, gender non-conforming astrologer Walter Mercado mesmerized Latino viewers with his extravagance and positivity for decades. Then, one day, he vanished from the public eye.
THE REASON I JUMP
Director: Jerry Rothwell
Based on the book by Naoki Higashida, this immersive film explores the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people around the world.
A THOUSAND CUTS
Director: Ramona S Diaz
A film about the role of journalism and disinformation’s accelerating effect in the erosion of democracy under the authoritarian regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, as told through the story of embattled journalist Maria Ressa.
US KIDS
Director: Kim A Snyder
Determined to turn unfathomable tragedy into action, the teenage survivors of Parkland FL catalyze a powerful, unprecedented youth movement that spreads with lightning speed across the country, as a generation of youth take back democracy.
Special Events:
HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS
HAVE A GOOD TRIP: ADVENTURES IN PSYCHEDELICS
Director/Screenwriter: Donick Cary
The epic story of psychedelics as revealed through the surprising and often hilarious drug trips of celebrity storytellers.
Episodic Pilot Competition:
HOMECOMING: THE JOURNEY OF CARDBOARD
BANANAS
Director: Rachel Anderson, Screenwriters: Rachel Anderson, Mary Duong
A curious and playful look at growing up between two cultures in Queensland – the Sunshine State – with particular focus on food and family, presented by two Australian-born Asian friends who are awkward, honest, and warm in equal parts.
HOMECOMING: THE JOURNEY OF CARDBOARD
Directors: Yuko Shiomaki, Anna Thorson Mayer
Fuyuki Shimazu is an artist and cardboard lover who travels around the world to pick up cardboard he likes.
RACIST TREES
Directors: Sara Newens, Mina T Son
Racial tensions are reignited as a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs continues the decades-long fight for the removal of a wall of trees that many believe were originally planted as a totem of segregation.
Documentary Spotlight:
GOOD OL GIRL
AFTER TRUTH: DISINFORMATION AND THE COST OF FAKE NEWS
Director: Andrew Rossi
Capturing the human toll of false news and conspiracies with unprecedented access to figures in the Pizzagate, Seth Rich, Jade Helm, and Alabama special election cases.
GOOD OL GIRL
Director: Sarah Brennan Kolb
A doc western following three modern day cowgirls as they hustle for land, cattle, and respect across Texas.
A MOST BEAUTIFUL THING
Director/Screenwriter: Mary Mazzio
A chronicle of the first African American high school rowing team in this country, made up of young men in rival gangs from the West Side of Chicago, all literally coming together to row in the same boat.
THE PUSHBACK
Director: Kevin Ford
Two women of color run for public office and fight against decades of institutional racism, redefining what it means to be a Texan.
THE SCHEME
Director: Pat Kondelis
The true story of basketball insider Christian Dawkins, who hustled the FBI in a scandal that threatened to take down the NCAA.
Episodic Premieres:
WE’RE HERE
WE’RE HERE
Director: Peter LoGreco
From creators Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram, this six-part unscripted series recruits small-town residents across America to participate in a one-night-only drag show. Renowned drag queens Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela Laquifa Wadley will inspire and teach their own “drag daughters” to step outside their comfort zone for a night of no-holds-barred, full-on drag.
24 Beats Per Second:
SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS
DARK CITY BENEATH THE BEAT
Director: TT The Artist
A musical documentary reimagining the narrative of Baltimore, a city rising above social and economic turmoil to develop a vibrant and close-knit community for the arts through its homegrown sound, Baltimore club music.
JOSE FELICIANO: BEHIND THIS GUITAR
Directors/Screenwriters: Frank Licari, Helen Murphy
An official biography of the eight-time Grammy winner and international music icon.
LAUREL CANYON: A PLACE IN TIME
Director: Alison Ellwood
Pulling back the curtain on a mythical world, this film provides an up-close look at the lives of the musicians who inhabited it. It paints an intimate portrait of the artists who created a music revolution that would change popular culture.
SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS
Director: Lisa Rovner
The remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today.
Global:
THE MYSTERY OF THE PINK FLAMINGO
THE MYSTERY OF THE PINK FLAMINGO
Director: Javier Polo, Screenwriters: Javier Polo, Sixto Xavier García
A square sound engineer employs unusual research efforts to reveal the secrets behind the quintessential icon of kitsch, the Pink Flamingo. His bizarre adventure will unexpectedly turn into a creative journey to self-discovery.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Festival:
The 19th Documentary Fortnight
Dates:
February 5-19
About:
This year’s edition of MoMA’s annual nonfiction showcase presents more than 30 new and recent features, hybrids, shorts, VR, and performances. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 4:
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER
Director:
Beniamino Barrese
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Cartagena, DokuFest, Docs Against Gravity, Transilvania, Shanghai, Munich, Biografilm, MakeDox, Taipei, Frameline
About:
The filmmaker films his mother as she plans to leave the modern world behind.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
MCMILLION$ | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeff Dolen
Directors:
James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
About:
A look back at a stranger-than-fiction true crime tale of fast food and fraud.
My pre-Sundance profile of the docuseries may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 