Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 4:
OWNED: A TALE OF TWO AMERICAS

Director:
Giorgio Angelini

World Premiere:
Full Frame 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, St Louis, SF DocFest

About:
An investigation of how the American dream of homeownership has been corrupted.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
After World War II, US housing policy sought to create middle-class wealth through homeownership – but these benefits were largely intended for whites only. Today, we see the results: practices including redlining, predatory lending, and unchecked speculation have Americans – of all races – shut out from the dream or drowning in real-estate debt. Moving from Levittown to Orange County to Baltimore, this timely film exposes the greed, flawed economic policy, and systemic racism that distorted “the American dream” into a game only few can win.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4:
SCREWBALL

Director:
Billy Corben

Premiere:
Toronto 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Miami

About:
A true-crime comedy exposing a notorious Major League Baseball doping scandal.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4:
BRAVE GIRLS

Directors:
Yashaswi Desai and Ellie Walton

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
Schooling offers hope for a better future for three conservative Muslim girls.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Three young Indian women in a conservative Muslim town seek to change their futures through education and self-determination. The opportunity to continue their schooling has opened up the possibility of a different future for Karishma, Apsana, and Samira, but even as they prepare for final exams, their families threaten to pull them back into the prescribed roles of wives and mothers. At once inspiring and frustrating, Yashaswi Desai and Ellie Walton’s thoughtful film neatly captures the extraordinary challenge of breaking with cultural tradition.

New to DVD this week:
THE TRIAL OF RATKO MLADIC

Directors:
Robert Miller and Henry Singer

World Premiere:
IDFA 2018

Select Festivals:
Hot Dos, CPH:DOX, Göteborg, Movies That Matter

About:
A notorious Serbian military commander faces charges of genocide.

Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, a series of conflicts broke out in the region throughout the decade. Between 1992-1995, General Ratko Mladic led Serbian forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, making him a national hero and celebrated there to this day. His victories, however, included the vicious slaughter of Muslims as part of nationalistic ethnic cleansing. Most notably, he was responsible for the genocide perpetrated in the town of Srenrenica, when more than 7000 men and boys were murdered in July 1995. Robert Miller and Henry Singer’s film follows efforts to see Mladic finally face justice for these actions during a five-year-long case at The Hague. Originally indicted in 1995 by the International Criminal Tribunal, the so-called “Butcher of Bosnia” went into hiding for years until he was arrested in 2012. While focused on the prosecution, and, most affectingly, some of the witnesses to Mladic’s atrocities, the filmmakers also have access to the defense team as they try to argue his innocence. The result is a difficult but worthwhile watch, bearing witness to the consequences of hateful, divisive rhetoric that plagues so much of the world today.

Coming to OVID tomorrow, Friday, May 31:
AFTER STONEWALL

Director:
John Scagliotti

World Premiere:
1999

Select Festivals:
NewFest, Outfest, Thessaloniki Doc

About:
An overview of the LGBT rights movement in the decades following Stonewall.

I previously wrote about the doc for NewFest’s program in 1999, saying:
On the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall riot, Janet Baus, Dan Hunt, and John Scagliotti, the latter a co-producer of the Emmy Award-winning BEFORE STONEWALL, chronicle in this new documentary the struggles, defeats, and triumphs that have defined gay and lesbian experience since that momentous event. Narrated by Melissa Etheridge, the film brings together numerous interviews (including Armistead Maupin, Jewelle Gomez, Barney Frank, Rita Mae Brown, and Dorothy Allison) with a treasure trove of archival and home movie footage, much of it never released before. Funny, sad, inspiring, but always engrossing, the film documents stories of transformation and liberation that led to the formation of lesbian and gay movements and communities which in turn have rigorously challenged prevailing social assumptions about family, work, religion, and relationships. This panorama of our era is honest, informative, and utterly rewarding to watch.

Coming to OVID tomorrow, Friday, May 31:
VITO

Director:
Jeffrey Schwarz

Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2011

Select Festivals:
Berlin, Big Sky, Dallas, Frameline, and Outfest

About:
On the life and legacy of a pivotal figure in LGBT cinema.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, May 31:
FOR THE BIRDS

Director:
Richard Miron

Premiere:
Sheffield 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New Orleans, Hamptons, Thessaloniki Doc, AFI Docs, DocPoint, Antenna Doc, Cork, Austin, Planet in Focus, Woodstock

About:
An obsessive bird lover struggles to properly care for her flock.

I previously wrote about the doc here.