Category Archives: Recommendations

New to DVD and VOD this week:
AMONG WOLVES

Director:
Shawn Convey

Premiere:
Chicago 2016

Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, Sebastopol Doc, St Louis, Anchorage, RiverRun

About:
A profile of a biker club consisting of veterans of the Bosnian War.

During the Bosnian War in the early 1990s, Lija helped defend his city, Livno – service for which he feels no guilt. Now, he leads many of his comrades-in-arms from those days in the Wolves motorcycle club. Though the viewer might expect these hardened veterans to live up to the aggro biker stereotype, the portrait that emerges in Shawn Convey’s surprisingly understated film upends those preconceptions. While some of the Wolves’ younger members engage in some disruptive behavior, to the gentle headshaking of Lija and his cohort, the club as a whole is dedicated to charitable work, from blood drives and building repair to taking responsibility for the care and protection of a herd of wild horses – stewardship that is laden with metaphor about their own membership. Convey’s project is a quiet one, focused more on observation than on fleshing out the personalities or lives of the Wolves – save, to some extent, Lija – but nevertheless paints an intriguing portrait of trauma and healing.

New to DVD and VOD this week:
BOGALUSA CHARM

Director:
Steve Richardson

Premiere:
Slamdance 2017

Select Festivals:
Bentonville, SF Doc Fest

About:
A portrait of a small Louisiana town known for its charm school.

Bogalusa, Louisiana developed as a company town around the world’s largest sawmill in the 1900s. Today, the paper mill that replaced it accounts for most of the town’s economy. Director Steve Richardson returns to his hometown to craft an understated, even rough-hewn, but revealing portrait in his almost Errol Morris-like slice of small-town Americana. At its core is Miss Dixie, who has run her summertime Smoky Creek Charm School for girls for nearly three decades. Representing the traditional Southern way, the school extols old-fashioned etiquette and gender roles, and is noticeably primarily geared toward nice, white, Christian girls. Other Bogalusa residents speak more candidly about the Southern town’s relationship to race and religion, both historic and present-day, notably Sandy, who owns local restaurant Birdie’s Roadhouse. Though a smaller film, it maintains viewer interest in piecing together its mosaic of provincial Southern life.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 12:
FREE SOLO

Directors:
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

Premiere:
Telluride 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, Los Angeles

Notable Recognition:
The documentary has been nominated for the Academy Awards.

About:
The chronicle of a man’s attempt to be the first person to scale a notorious cliff wall without ropes or safety gear.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, February 12:
ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970: SEX FASHION & DISCO

Director:
James Crump

Premiere:
London 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Guadalajara

About:
A portrait of an unheralded figure in the 1970s fashion scene.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 12:
THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET

Director:
Jeremy Workman

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, IFF Boston, Nashville, RiverRun, Newport Beach, deadCENTER, Heartland, Bergen, Woodstock, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A man explores NYC by walking every single one of its streets.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to PBS’s AfroPoP tonight, Monday, February 11:
WHILE I BREATHE, I HOPE

Director:
Emily Harrold

Premiere:
New Orleans 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Cucalorus, Toronto Black, Oxford,

About:
A portrait of a young African-American politician in the South.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
When he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2005, Bakari Sellers became the youngest African-American elected official in US history. In this candid profile, the charismatic Democrat sets his sights on becoming the state’s lieutenant governor, a role not held by an African American since 1876. Emily Harrold offers an eye-opening look at the legacy of racism in American politics as she follows Sellers through his campaign and beyond, including the tragic shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME church.