Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Wednesday, November 20:
BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR

Director:
Eva Orner

World Premiere:
Toronto 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, Hawaii, Philadelphia, AFI Fest

About:
A searing exposé of the hot yoga entrepreneur Bikram Choudhury, accused by multiple women of sexual assault.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Bikram Choudhury was at the forefront of popularizing yoga in North America and around the world. An Indian immigrant with a Beverly Hills base, Choudhury was a born entertainer, known for dressing in nothing more than a black speedo and a Rolex. His teaching style was tough love sprinkled with salty language and punctuated by spontaneous bursts of singing. He built a franchise empire with hundreds of Bikram studios around the world.

Filmmaker Eva Orner traces Choudhury from his rise in the 1970s to his disgrace in accusations of rape and sexual harassment in more recent years. She taps a vast trove of archival footage that demonstrates Choudhury’s charm and offers clues to his dark side.

Over the years, Choudhury’s story has received steady press coverage, but there is a fresh power in this telling, with key figures going on camera for the first time including his longtime lawyer, Micki Jafa-Bodden. The film raises larger questions about the nature of leaders and followers and the corruption of messianic figures. To this day, Choudhury has evaded prosecution and continues to attract yoga students from all over the world, bringing added tension to this rigorous investigation.

Coming to HBO today, Tuesday, November 19:
ERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS

Director:
Jenifer McShane

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, AFI Docs, Traverse City, IFF Boston, Berkshire, Woods Hole, Heartland, NewportFilm, Milwaukee, Nashville, Woodstock, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A profile of a pair of police officers on a mission to help the mentally ill.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Frontline and to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19:
FOR SAMA

Directors:
Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Cannes, Sheffield, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Traverse City, Riverrun, Minneapolis-St Paul, Seattle, Biografilm, Belfast, deadCENTER, Maryland, New Zealand, Guanajuato, Munich, Galway, Melbourne, Mountainfilm

About:
An intimate chronicle of life during war.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens today, Monday, November 18:
CONSCIENCE POINT

Director:
Treva Wurmfeld

World Premiere:
Hamptons 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC

About:
Native activists fight to preserve sacred land from rampant development for the elite in Southampton NY.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
As one of America’s wealthiest communities has developed around them in Southampton NY, the indigenous Shinnecock Nation of Eastern Long Island fights to maintain both their time-honored traditions and their land. After suffering years of indignation by the presence of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, a regular host of the US Open, the Nation’s leaders look to pass land-preservation legislation before it’s too late.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 15:
RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT

Director:
Matt Wolf

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Docs, London, New Orleans, Melbourne, Montclair, Maryland, SF DocFest, Sidewalk, Heartland, Antenna

About:
The story of a woman who recorded television news around the clock for thirty years.

Beginning in 1979, during the Iran Hostage Crisis, Philadelphia-based librarian-turned-social activist Communist Marion Stokes began an unusual obsession. Noting how excessive news coverage of the crisis was simplifying the larger issues at play, and suspecting that the whole story was being reduced to black and white us vs them stakes, Stokes sought a visual record. As the coverage gave birth to ABC News’ pioneering NIGHTLINE, the forerunner for the soon-to-emerge 24/7 cable news era, Stokes expanded her own efforts, drawing in others in her circle to aid her efforts. Director Matt Wolf creatively makes use of her recordings, while also delving into Stokes’ personal history through interviews with family members and associates. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a woman on a mission that was part hoarding – reflective not just in her VHS taping, but in other, more familiar collections of newspapers and books – and part media and cultural researcher and critic. At the same time, it’s never exactly clear to what end Stokes saw her project – while it has been embraced after her death by the Internet Archive, and certainly seems prescient in this era of polarized, subjective news broadcasting and fake news, aside from maintaining her mission, she did not really do anything concrete with her recordings, resulting in a feeling that this is more curiosity than revelation.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 15:
ERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS

Director:
Jenifer McShane

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, AFI Docs, Traverse City, IFF Boston, Berkshire, Woods Hole, Heartland, NewportFilm, Milwaukee, Nashville, Woodstock, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A profile of a pair of police officers on a mission to help the mentally ill.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In confrontations between law enforcement and the mentally ill, the consequences are often traumatic, if not deadly. Recognizing that police officers are frequently the first responders to incidents involving people with mental illness, the San Antonio Police Department has developed an innovative mental health unit to divert the mentally ill away from jail and into proper treatment. Jenifer McShane’s film follows two officers in the unit, allowing audiences to witness firsthand how they de-escalate situations to help people in crisis.