Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by NEON and CNN Films.
Todd Douglas Miller revisits the historic manned space mission to the Moon through exclusive, immersive footage.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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Category Archives: Recommendations
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: APOLLO 11
Todd Douglas Miller revisits the historic manned space mission to the Moon through exclusive, immersive footage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On DVD: EATING ANIMALS
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 1:
EATING ANIMALS
Director:
Christopher Quinn
Premiere:
Telluride 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Docs Against Gravity
About:
An exploration of the impact of factory farming on our food production.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: AMERICAN FACTORY
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Steven Bognar
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert present an observational portrait of an Ohio factory run by a Chinese company.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On TV & DVD: LOVE, GILDA
Coming to CNN and to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 1:
LOVE, GILDA
Director:
Lisa D’Apolito
Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Montclair, AFI Docs, San Francisco Jewish, Boston Jewish, Seattle, Sidewalk
About:
An intimate, personal portrait of the legendary Gilda Radner.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus: ALWAYS IN SEASON
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Washington Post
Jacqueline Olive interrogates the disturbing, lasting legacy of lynching in America.
Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2019 Sundance Docs in Focus
The 35th Sundance Film Festival takes place next month, running January 24-February 3, with a lineup consisting of 122 features, 73 shorts, 15 episodics, and 29 installations, performances, and VR experiences.
As I’ve done since 2011’s festival, I’ll profile each of the 50+ feature and long-form episodic documentaries in advance of the festival, beginning this Monday.
Please note that I am not reviewing these films – as a Documentary Programming Associate for Sundance, they are all very much recommended. These profiles simply provide some background about the creators of the class of 2019, noting past Sundance projects where applicable, and why readers should seek out the docs, either during the festival or later in the year at other festivals and/or in release. For a sample, check out last year’s series, which began here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On DVD: BAD REPUTATION
Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, January 1:
BAD REPUTATION
Director:
Kevin Kerslake
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
BFI London, Cleveland, San Francisco, Montclair, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Outfest
About:
A portrait of the queen of rock ‘n’ roll, Joan Jett.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Special Screenings: Documentary Oscar Shortlist
Coming to 13 cities nationwide beginning next Monday, December 31 and running through Monday, January 21: Oscars® Spotlight: Documentary Feature Shortlist
This fantastic new initiative by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Future of Film Committee offers public audiences in the following cities the opportunity to see all 15 of the official Documentary Feature shortlisted titles in theatres: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, NYC, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Washington DC. This is particularly important for the handful of this year’s contenders that qualified by winning awards at international festivals rather than taking the traditional route of theatrical release.
My previous coverage of the shortlist may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
2018 Top Ten
Earlier today, Indiewire posted the top ten lists of film and television from various film industry respondents, including mine. You may find my picks as well as the full list here.
As noted there, I’ve restricted my list to non-fiction as a counterbalance, since most of these sorts of year-end rankings tend to only begrudging include one or two documentaries and otherwise heap praise on fiction films. My picks are also limited to official releases in 2018.
Here are pointers to what I’ve written about my top ten feature and episodic nonfiction of 2018 on what (not) to doc previously. These are unranked and in alphabetical order, followed by a list of additional notable titles.
Top Ten:
306 HOLLYWOOD
AMERICA TO ME
BISBEE ’17
DISTANT CONSTELLATION
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
MINDING THE GAP
SHIRKERS
THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS
WILD WILD COUNTRY
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Plus ten more notable docs of 2018:
BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY
FREE SOLO
GOOD LUCK
THE LAST RACE
LOTS OF KIDS, A MONKEY AND A CASTLE
LOVE, GILDA
MAKALA
OF FATHERS AND SONS
PICK OF THE LITTER
THE ROAD MOVIE
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: SACRED
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 25:
SACRED
Director:
Thomas Lennon
Premiere:
Tokyo 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Sebastopol Doc, RiverRun, Cleveland, Ashland, Montclair
About:
A look at spirituality around the world.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
