Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 13:
AMÉRICA

Directors:
Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside

World Premiere:
True/False 2018

Select Festivals:
IDFA, CPH:DOX, Full Frame, Sheffield, AFI Docs, BAMcinemaFest, New Orleans, Denver, Camden, Guanajuato, DokuFest, Hot Springs Doc, Ashland, Maryland, Sidewalk, Reykjavik, Adelaide, Docs Against Gravity

About:
Three brothers take on the role of caretakers for their grandmother.

After her son, Luis, is (perhaps unjustly) arrested for elder abuse, the care of 93-year-old América falls to her grandsons Diego, Rodrigo, and Bruno. The three brothers, itinerant circus performers, have been estranged, but try to put aside their differences for the sake of their beloved grandmother, who suffers from dementia. Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside’s wistful, humanistic film follows the family over three years, capturing the young men as they dote on América, navigate the legal system to free their father, quarrel with one another, and, ultimately, demonstrate the deep bonds of familial love.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Friday, September 13:
TEDDY PENDERGRASS: IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME

Director:
Olivia Lichtenstein

World Premiere:
Philadelphia 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sound Unseen, African Diaspora, Leeds, San Francisco Black, Melbourne Doc

About:
A look back at the triumph and tragedy of the R&B singer.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
The unforgettable voice behind “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” “Close the Door,” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” Teddy Pendergrass was poised to be the biggest R&B artist of all time with five consecutive platinum albums. But his career was halted by a 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed at age 31. This definitive biography, set to a soulful soundtrack, captures revealing interviews with his closest associates to trace his rise, fall, and post-accident comeback at Live Aid.

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 13:
CRACKED UP

Director:
Michelle Esrick

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE veteran Darrell Hammond opens up the impact of his childhood abuse.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
With courage and, of course, humor, master impressionist, comedian, and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE legend Darrell Hammond reveals his dark history as a victim of child abuse. Brilliant in the spotlight, Darrell was misdiagnosed and wrongly medicated for decades, struggling with drugs, alcohol, and nightmarish flashbacks. Michelle Esrick’s poignant film illuminates the devastating effects of childhood trauma and the importance of setting repressed memories free. She artfully balances humor and tragedy to craft a beautiful story of hope and resilience.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 10:
WALKING ON WATER

Director:
Andrey Paounov

Premiere:
Locarno 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, Docudays UA

About:
A behind the scenes look at Christo’s long-gestating Floating Piers project.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 10:
ECHO IN THE CANYON

Director:
Andrew Slater

Premiere:
Los Angeles 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Berkshire, Santa Barbara

About:
A look back at the 1960s Laurel Canyon music scene.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress

Director:
Randall MacLowry

World Premiere:
American Experience (September 2019)

About:
An in-depth look at the legendary conflict between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

The feud between the rural West Virginia/Kentucky clans long ago entered into the popular consciousness, so much so that the families’ names are now synonymous with long-lasting rivalries. At the same time, the way their story has been told has had a lasting, deleterious impact on stereotypical perceptions of Appalachian mountain residents as uneducated, violent, and vengeful people. Director Randall MacLowry’s informative, if somewhat staid, profile, stands as a corrective, contextualizing the feud within the far more complex backdrop in which it developed – a story of industrialization and corporate landgrabbing that threatened the Appalachian way of life.

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, September 9:
GRIT

Directors:
Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander

World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Full Frame, Hamptons, Big Sky Doc, Bergen, One World, Mill Valley, GlobeDocs, Hawaii, Movies That Matter, Ashland, Doc Edge, Salem, Atlanta, Environmental fests in Washington DC, Princeton, and Yale

About:
In East Java, Indonesia, a mother and daughter battle a corporation over a man-made catastrophe.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In 2006 a rush of molten mud exploded in East Java, Indonesia, flooding 16 villages and displacing more than 60,000 people; 12 years later the hot sludge is still flowing. Grit profiles one girl’s awakening to activism as her family campaigns against the corporation responsible for the man-made catastrophe. Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander spent six years capturing the unworldly reality of East Java’s ecological disaster with breathtaking cinematography and a patient eye for the youth coming of age amid the mudflow.