Category Archives: Recommendations

2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: SAUDI RUNAWAY

SAUDI RUNAWAY | Courtesy of Sundance Institute

SAUDI RUNAWAY
Susanne Regina Meures shares a Saudi Arabian woman’s first-person attempt to gain freedom by leaving her country.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Switzerland
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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE REASON I JUMP

THE REASON I JUMP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jerry Rothwell

THE REASON I JUMP
Jerry Rothwell profiles several non-verbal autistic young people in this project based on the New York Times bestseller by Naoki Higashida.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
UK
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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF

THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Benjamin Ree

THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
Benjamin Ree constructs a dual portrait of an artist and the thief who stole her art but becomes her friend.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Norway
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In Theatres: AFTERWARD

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, January 10:
AFTERWARD

Director:
Ofra Bloch

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

Select Festivals:
San Francisco Jewish, Santa Barbara, RiverRun, Greenwich, Tel Aviv Human Rights, Big Muddy, Cleveland, Sarasota, Minneapolis-St Paul

About:
The filmmaker confronts her personal demons around Germany, Israel, and Palestine.

I wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Ofra Bloch, a New York-based psychoanalyst specializing in trauma, was born in Jerusalem to a Jewish family that emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s. Disturbed by the resurgence of fascism and anti-Semitism around the world, Ofra travels to Germany, Israel, and Palestine to confront her own deep-seated feelings about Germans and Palestinians, and the tensions between the Holocaust and the Nakba. In the process, she explores the nature of resistance and the possibility of hope.

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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by John Marquez

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA
Anabel Rodríguez Ríos views the socioeconomic and political crisis of Venezuela through the microcosm of a dying village.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Venezuela/United Kingdom/Brazil/Austria
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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE MOLE AGENT

THE MOLE AGENT | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Alvaro Reyes

THE MOLE AGENT
Maite Alberdi follows an 83-year-old undercover spy in a Chilean retirement home.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Chile/USA/Germany/Netherlands/Spain
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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: INTO THE DEEP

INTO THE DEEP | Courtesy of Sundance Institute

INTO THE DEEP
Emma Sullivan presents a chilling, up-close profile of a notorious murder case in Denmark.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Denmark
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On VOD: RED DOG

New to VOD this week:
RED DOG

Directors:
Luke Dick and Casey Pinkston

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Lone Star, deadCENTER, Nashville, San Antonio

About:
A musician explores the history of the infamous Oklahoma City strip club in which he grew up.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Once upon a time, in downtown Oklahoma City, a seedy strip club called the Red Dog Saloon was an emblem of the 1970s oil boom. It also served as the childhood home of award-winning musician Luke Dick and his infamous go-go dancing mother Kim. Combining funky animation, archival footage, and interviews with Red Dog regulars, this quirky, high-spirited film reconstructs the culture and times of the strip club, as well as the circumstances that led to Kim and Luke’s unorthodox life there.

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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: INFLUENCE

INFLUENCE | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mark Bugyra

INFLUENCE
Diana Neille and Richard Poplak detail the rise and fall of disgraced PR/reputation management firm Bell Pottinger.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
South Africa/Canada
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2020 Sundance Docs in Focus: EPICENTRO

EPICENTRO | Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Hubert Sauper

EPICENTRO
Hubert Sauper offers a meditation on postcolonial Cuba.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Austria/France/USA
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