Category Archives: Recommendations

A MURDER IN MANSFIELD

Director:
Barbara Kopple

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, IDFA, Cleveland, Montclair, Sydney, AFI Docs, Traverse City

About:
A man confronts the lifelong legacy of the murder of his mother by his father.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple explores the legacy of the 1989 murder of Noreen Boyle in Mansfield, Ohio, and the life-changing impact this crime had on Boyle’s family. As a 12-year-old, Noreen’s son Collier took the stand in his mother’s murder trial and testified against his father, John. Nearly two decades later, Collier returns to Ohio to confront his imprisoned father, who still maintains a hold on him, in an attempt to free himself from the burden of this tragedy.

A new docuseries coming to Showtime beginning this Sunday, November 18:
ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI

Directors:
Jed Rothstein (episodes 1-3) and Alex Gibney (episode 4)

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
About the complex, often-fraught relationship between US presidents Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and Trump with the FBI.

An episode of the series premiered as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
From Oscar and Emmy-winning director Alex Gibney, and inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Weiner’s book, ENEMIES: A HSTORY OF THE FBI, this new Showtime series explores the complex history of tension between American presidents and the FBI, from Watergate to the present day.

Coming to America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, November 13:
ISLAND SOLDIER

Director:
Nathan Fitch

Premiere:
Full Frame 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, DOK.fest Munich, Big Sky Doc, One World, Hawaii, Atlanta, San Diego Asian, Asian American fests in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles

About:
An exploration of the sacrifices made by foreign soldiers in the US military.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
The beautiful, remote islands of Micronesia, a US protectorate, contribute a disproportionate number of soldiers to the American armed forces. Looking for a way out of poverty, these Pacific Islanders leave their communities in pursuit of the American Dream. unfortunately some, like Sapp Nena, pay for it with their lives. Exploring the impact of their absence on the families and communities they leave behind, Nathan Fitch’s thoughtful film questions whether the benefits of US protection are worth the substantial costs of fighting its wars.

Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema today, Friday, November 9:
FAIL STATE

Director:
Alexander Shebanow

Premiere:
Austin 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Big Sky, SXSW EDU, Cleveland, Nashville, Brooklyn

About:
An exposé of predatory for-profit colleges.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Executive produced by Dan Rather, this revealing film explores the dark side of higher education in America, focusing on the rise of for-profit colleges. Echoing the subprime mortgage crisis, these private institutions target lower-income and minority students, who become saddled with student loan debt and, often, worthless degrees. Director Alex Shebanow traces the historical rise, fall, and resurgence of these predatory schools, reveals their Wall Street backing, and demonstrates the co-opting of American higher education into an engine of inequality.