Coming to YouTube today, Tuesday, November 27:
THE PRICE OF FREE
Director:
Derek Doneen
Premiere:
Sundance 2018 (under original title KAILASH)
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Napa Valley, Sundance Hong Kong, El Gouna, Aspen
About:
A profile of one man’s tireless mission to end child slavery.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s DCTV Presents series tonight, Monday, November 26:
THE PAIN OF OTHERS
Director:
Penny Lane
Premiere:
Rotterdam 2018
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, BAMcinemaFest, SF DocFest, Maryland, Sarasota
About:
Found footage about a contested disease offers a provocative meditation on the nature of suffering.
Morgellons is a self-diagnosed condition characterized by itching, creepy-crawlies, sores, and the apparent expulsion of fibers from the skin. It’s also not generally accepted by the medical establishment, which has deemed it a delusion. In response, some of its sufferers have turned to the Internet, posting YouTube entries to attempt to offer evidence of their symptoms, share potential theories and palliative remedies, and, perhaps most importantly, to gain support from a like-minded community. Lane’s film is largely composed of segments of these types of videos, together with a few clips from media reports about Morgellons for additional context. The viewer is drawn into a type of confidence as three women’s testimonies play out a range of emotions, from joy at finally being able to identify one’s symptoms as Morgellons or satisfaction in locating some dodgy potential cure, to deep depression that they’re being treated and dismissed as hysterical women. This often disturbing but deeply empathetic film doesn’t try to assess the “realness” of Morgellons, at least not directly, but in presenting these portraits of suffering, Lane forces the viewer to question what, if any, difference there is for the afflicted between a condition with a physiological basis or one with a psychological one.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, November 26:
THE TRUTH ABOUT KILLER ROBOTS
Director:
Maxim Pozdorovkin
Premiere:
Toronto 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, Double Exposure, Zurich
About:
A wide-ranging, thought-provoking meditation on the legal, ethical, and philosophical implications of robots and artificial intelligence.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin takes a provocative look at how new technology makes robots more human and humans more robotic. His film’s title comes from three recent incidents where robots have caused the death of humans. But Pozdorovkin also examines how robots are job killers, replacing humans not only in manufacturing, but everywhere from hospitality to farming to legal work. This film essay will change the way you listen to politicians promising to create jobs.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
SCIENCE FAIR
Directors:
Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Edinburgh, Cleveland, New Zealand, Vancouver, Sun Valley, Portland, Provincetown
About:
A profile of participants in the world’s premier science fair.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 23:
HILLBILLY
Directors:
Sally Rubin and Ashley York
Premiere:
Nashville 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Los Angeles, Traverse City, SF DocFest, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, Southern Circuit
About:
A personal exploration of the representation of rural America.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
America’s mountain and rural populace has long been an easy target for ridicule. Stereotyped in the media as lazy and ignorant, and dismissed by politicians as backwards, they’re considered the lowest rung of American society. Directors Rubin and York return to York’s hometown in the Appalachian hills to give voice to the thoughts of this complex community, revealing a racially, politically, and sexually diverse population who stand strong and proud of who they are.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 23:
FAMILY IN TRANSITION
Director:
Ofir Trainin
Premiere:
Docaviv 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC
About:
A husband and father’s transition from male to female changes the dynamics of the family in unanticipated way.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Amit, a father of four living in a small town in Israel, tells his wife, Galit, that he is a woman and wants to transition. Galit pledges her support, ready to overcome surgery, social stigma and bureaucracy to maintain her marriage. But, as Amit transforms into the woman she was meant to be, tensions arise while everyone in the family readjusts to understand themselves and each other anew. In the process, Galit must redefine her own identity and what it means to be a parent, a spouse, and a lover.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week:
MAKING THE GRADE
Director:
Ken Wardrop
Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Hamptons, Seattle, Newport Beach
About:
On piano teachers and their students in Ireland.
In Ireland, approximately 30,000 students of various ages take different levels of piano exams each year. Demonstrating his signature humanism and warmth, director Ken Wardrop offers a peek into the lessons of a cross-section of these Mozart hopefuls, from the beginning grades through to the most proficient. Though neither the exam nor its results are revealed here, it’s clear that not everyone in the film will pass, as, in many ways, that’s besides the point. The film never dives deep into any individual stories, but the result is an affectionate mosaic of the relationship between piano teacher and student, while at the same time a love letter to music education and appreciation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, November 20:
QUIET HEROES
Directors:
Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, and Amanda Stoddard
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Frameline, BFI Flare, Portland QDoc, TLVFest
About:
A tribute to the only medical professionals in Utah who would treat patients with AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.
My pre-Sundance profile may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, November 20:
LIFE IN THE DOGHOUSE
Director:
Ron Davis
Premiere:
Provincetown 2018
Select Festivals:
Frameline, Newport, Sedona
About:
A gay couple turns their home into a dog rescue.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to the JCC Manhattan tomorrow, Tuesday, November 20:
OLD FRIENDS
Director:
Peter Odabashian
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015
About:
A portrait of the filmmaker through interviews with an expansive group of friends.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
At once intimately personal and expansively universal, Peter Odabashian’s bittersweet reflection on friendship and happiness demonstrates the power of an intentional community of kindred spirits on one’s life. Through affectionate, free-flowing interviews with an eclectic group of longtime friends his wife Esther and he have made both in NYC and in their home upstate, Odabashian explores profound themes of love, companionship, purpose, regret, aging, and mortality, ultimately celebrating the uplifting connections that bind them together.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
