Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, December 30:
MIDNIGHT TRAVELER
Director:
Hassan Fazili
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Docaviv, DocumentaMadrid, DOXA, Sheffield, Thessaloniki, True/False, Doc Edge, RiverRun, Seattle, Montclair, Biografilm, San Francisco, Salem, Sydney
About:
The filmmaker, his wife, and their two daughters face an uncertain road to asylum when they are forced to flee Afghanistan.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres this Wednesday, December 25:
WHAT SHE SAID: THE ART OF PAULINE KAEL
Director:
Rob Garver
World Premiere:
Telluride 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Berlin, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki Doc, Miami, Cleveland, Montclair, Seattle, Docs Against Gravity, Transilvania, New Zealand, Vancouver, Mumbai, Rio, Docaviv
About:
A portrait of controversial and influential film critic Pauline Kael.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Pauline Kael is among the most famous and divisive film critics of all time. Her praise helped uplift the careers of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and others, while her putdowns left lasting wounds. She was a pioneering woman in a male chauvinistic world. This nuanced portrait captures her complexity while revisiting late-twentieth-century cinema through her lens, using ample film clips, never-before-seen archival, wide-ranging interviews, and her writings voiced by Sarah Jessica Parker.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
ON THE PRESIDENT’S ORDERS
Directors:
James Jones and Olivier Sarbil
World Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, Melbourne, Human Rights Watch, Bergen, Raindance, Zurich, DokuFest,
About:
An inside look at Filipino president Duterte’s corrupt war on drugs.
I previously wrote about the doc hereS.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
THE SERENGETI RULES
Director:
Nicholas Brown
Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hamptons, Jackson Hole, Bergen, Maui, Vancouver, Global Peace,
About:
Scientists explore the impact of keystone species on ecosystems.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
TO KID OR NOT TO KID
Director:
Maxine Trump
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, BechdelFest, Woods Hole
About:
A personal look at women’s decision not to have kids.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
This post is a pointer to the fourth lineup announcement for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Additional selections in the Documentary Premieres and From the Collection sections have just been announced and may be found here.
Previous lineup announcements include the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, NEXT, Documentary Premieres, Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, and Kids sections, as well as the Indie Episodic, Special Events, and Shorts lineups, and New Frontier.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations, Sundance
New to DVD this week:
BARBARA RUBIN & THE EXPLODING NY UNDERGROUND
Director:
Chuck Smith
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki Doc, Seattle, Jeonju
About:
A forgotten 1960s film pioneer receives her due.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
photo by Ap/REX/Shutterstock
Director:
Matt Tyrnauer
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
Zurich, Atlantic, New Zealand
About:
An exploration of the dark influence of Machiavellian attorney Roy Cohn on today’s polarized political landscape.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject shortlists today. In addition, one documentary feature is included on the International Feature Film shortlist. Congratulations to all the filmmakers – especially the Sundance, DOC NYC, and Nantucket Film Festival alumni represented.
The official lists are below, with links to my previous coverage, where applicable. The final nominees will be announced on January 13.
Documentary Feature:
ADVOCATE
AMERICAN FACTORY
THE APOLLO
APOLLO 11
AQUARELA
THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
THE CAVE
THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY
FOR SAMA
THE GREAT HACK
HONEYLAND
KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE
MAIDEN
MIDNIGHT FAMILY
ONE CHILD NATION
Documentary Short Subject:
After Maria
Fire in Paradise
Ghosts of Sugar Land
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
The Nightcrawlers
St. Louis Superman
Stay Close
Walk Run Cha-Cha
International Feature Film
North Macedonia, HONEYLAND
Czech Republic, THE PAINTED BIRD
Estonia, TRUTH AND JUSTICE
France, LES MISERABLES
Hungary, THOSE WHO REMAINED
North Macedonia, HONEYLAND
Poland, CORPUS CHRISTI
Russia, BEANPOLE
Senegal, ATLANTICS
South Korea, PARASITE
Spain, PAIN AND GLORY
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to the JCC Manhattan tomorrow, Tuesday, December 17:
THE RABBI GOES WEST
Directors:
Gerald Peary and Amy Geller
World Premiere:
San Francisco Jewish 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Vancouver, Jewish fests in Boston, Birmingham, Jerusalem, and Miami
About:
A Brooklyn transplant to Montana attempts to evangelize his strand of Hasidic Judaism.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
A Hasidic rabbi relocates from Brooklyn, New York to Bozeman, Montana with the hopes of spreading Chabad – his brand of orthodox practice – throughout “Big Sky Country.” As his prominence grows in the state, he faces neo-Nazi threats and resistance from members of the established Jewish community in Montana. The delicate balance between traditional values and the libertarian ethos of the American West is explored through one man’s relationship with his faith.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 