Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres tomorrow Friday, May 24 and to Rooftop Films this Saturday, May 25:
RUNNING WITH BETO

Director:
David Modigliani

Premiere:
SXSW 2019

Select Festivals:
Seattle, IFF Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Full Frame, Dallas,

About:
A candid behind-the-scenes look at Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign for US Senate.

Beto O’Rourke was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2012, representing Texas as a Democrat. He won re-election to two more terms, but instead of seeking re-election last year, he challenged Republican incumbent Ted Cruz for the US Senate. While viewed by many as a fool’s errand given the state’s deep-seated red leanings, the charismatic Everyman shocked naysayers with a campaign that very nearly unseated his regressive opponent, demonstrating that Texas may not be as much of a lock for the Republicans as believed, and brought O’Rourke to national prominence, clearing the way for his current 2020 US Presidential bid. None of this will come as a surprise to anyone watching David Modigliani’s film – as with most campaign docs, the outcome is already known, so what matters is how the story is told and how close one gets to the candidate. Here, the approach is fairly straightforward, but Modigliani benefits from a subject who comes off as genuine, likeable, and optimistic – a mean feat for a politician. In addition, the filmmaker profiles several individuals working on the campaign, providing welcome new personalities to round out the proceedings as they barrel down to the inevitable results of election night, and highlighting how O’Rourke’s campaign has opened the door for potential progressive change in Texas and beyond.

Coming to theatres this Friday, May 24:
WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION

Director:
Barak Goodman

Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Seattle, DocLands

About:
An immersive reflection on how organizers defied the odds to stage the seminal music event.

While Woodstock has become an iconic event in the history of music and of the 1960s counterculture, the fuller background on the happening’s origins may not be quite as well known. Barak Goodman’s masterful project revisits the 1969 concert and its planning, placing viewers in the midst of the action via remarkable archival visual footage and present-day audio commentary from organizers, attendees, and performers. From John Roberts and Joel Rosenman’s original plans to the idea’s rapid spread, the securing of and loss of the original setting to locating the eventual site of Max Yasgur’s Bethel farm, the overwhelming logistics to the need for support from the local community, this new doc draws the audience back to those three eventful days in August that capped off the tumultuous sixties and defined a generation.

Coming to theatres via Fathom Events for one night only tomorrow, Thursday, May 23:
THE COLD BLUE

Director:
Erik Nelson

Premiere:
AFI Docs 2018

Select Festivals:
New York, Traverse City

About:
A meditation on war composed of archival film of B-17 bombers shot by William Wyler.

Constructed from the recently rediscovered raw color footage shot by William Wyler for his classic 1944 documentary THE MEMPHIS BELLE, Erik Nelson’s project brings together survivors of the Eight Air Force to reflect on their experiences of WWII. For the bulk of the film, excerpts of Wyler’s striking footage plays while veteran airmen offer audio commentary, sometimes instructive, other times poignantly personal, and occasionally darkly humorous. For its coda, Nelson turns the camera onto some of his subjects, contrasting the nonagenarians with archival photos in their military prime, and gently interviewing them about their perception of the sacrifices they made. Organized into titled sections that also provide brief statistics or facts about the missions flown and the dangers faced, the film has a somewhat episodic feel, but manages to remain engaging despite this, buoyed by its breathtaking visuals.

Photograph by Judy Teller

Director:
Sasha Waters Freyer

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
San Francisco, New Zealand, Thin Line, Vancouver, Haifa

About:
A history and appreciation of acclaimed street photographer.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21:
LOS VIEJOS (THE OLDIES)

Director:
Rosana Matecki

Premiere:
Guadalajara 2018

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Miami, MICGénero, Boston Latino, DC Caribbean, Belize, DOK.Fest Munich, Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano

About:
A portrait of three elderly Cuban musicians.

Set in Santa Clara, Rosana Matecki’s warm film follows three aging musicians as they contend with the realities of aging on their bodies while reflecting on their past and the key role music played in their lives. As subjects Zaida, Candido, and Bringuez continue to stay active, performing their traditional Cuban music as best they can, they demonstrate a passion that defies age and that allows them to face the change that comes with each day. At the same time, the project serves as a thematic meditation on Cuba itself, where the long-standing embargo from the US has resulted in a kind of cultural time warp of sorts, and, at least for a moment, appeared to be poised for radical change before the current US presidential administration’s regressive policies.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 20:
WRESTLE

Director:
Suzannah Herbert

Co-Director:
Lauren Belfer

Premiere:
San Francisco 2018

About:
An intimate look at a Huntsville AL high school wrestling team.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
VENUS

Directors:
Mette Carla Albrechtsen and Lea Glob

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
True/False, Sheffield, DocPoint, Thessaloniki Doc, Göteborg, DOXBIO, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Sao Paulo

About:
100 women are surveyed about their sexual experiences.

Danish filmmakers Mette Carla Albrechtsen and Lea Glob set out to explore perceptions about female sexuality in their country by announcing an open casting call for women to participate as interview subjects in their project. The film features the various women who show up, walk into the frame, and are interviewed by Albrechtsen and Glob. Questions range from fairly basic to probing – even confrontational – interrogations about virginity, first or uncomfortable sexual experiences, body image issues, and the like, resulting in a kind of riff of the casting couch. The filmmakers even ask if their subjects are willing to pose naked for the camera. The result is a surprisingly engaging and vulnerable study of not only female sexuality, but of the give and take between filmmaker and subject.