Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, March 6:
THE PARIS OPERA
Director:
Jean-Stéphane Bron
Premiere:
Rendez-vous with French Cinema 2017
Select Festivals:
San Francisco, Seattle, BAFICI, BelDocs, Docs Against Gravity, Moscow, Locarno, Melbourne, New Zealand, Biografilm, Jerusalem
About:
An observational portrait of the French cultural institution over a tumultuous season.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, March 6:
HONDROS
Director:
Greg Campbell
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Denver, Hamptons, GlobeDocs, Stockholm, Vancouver
About:
A portrait of Chris Hondros, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in the same mortar blast that claimed the life of Tim Hetherington.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, March 6:
OH, RICK!
Directors:
Dustin Sussman and Aaron Rosenbloom
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017
Select Festivals:
Hollywood Reel Independent
About:
A profile of an unheralded comedy world everyman.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Rick Crom, comedy’s everyman, was the long-running emcee at the Comedy Cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The piano-playing funnyman integrated his talent for musical theater into his act, while artfully shifting the way comedians discuss homosexuality in their routines. A gentleman and the quintessential host, Rick is well-loved amongst his fellow comedians Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, and more who appear in this funny portrait to give Rick his due, and to bust his chops as only comedians can.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Festival:
The 19th Tempo Documentary Festival
Dates:
March 5-11
About:
Sweden’s largest nonfiction festival presents nearly 50 new features, representing a selection of well-travelled international works and several local titles noted below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Festival:
The 20th One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
Dates:
March 5-14
About:
This notable Czech doc fest presents over 100 features in Prague before touring 36 other cities around the Czech Republic. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Friday, March 2:
HONDROS
Director:
Greg Campbell
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Denver, Hamptons, GlobeDocs, Stockholm, Vancouver
About:
A portrait of Chris Hondros, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in the same mortar blast that claimed the life of Tim Hetherington.
Chris Hondros was killed in 2011 in Libya while covering the civil war there. His best friend and fellow journalist, Greg Campbell, directs this portrait, having been on that same trip with Chris but leaving just a few days before his death. The film incorporates interviews conducted with Hondros reflecting on his challenging career and what drives him, together with interviews with his mother, Inge, a German WWII refugee; his fiancee Christina; fellow photojournalists, who had both experienced kidnapping while on the job; plus several others who speak of the dangers of combat photojournalism and of Chris’ character. Campbell also draws on video of Hondros in the field, opening in Liberia in 2003 while Chris is literally dodging bullets, and ending with his coverage of the Libyan conflict, and its tragic consequences. Two of the subjects of Chris’ iconic photographs are also featured: Joe, a Liberian fighter who Hondros captured midjump while protecting a bridge; and Samar, who was photographed as a toddler crying after the accidental shooting by US military of a car containing her family, killing both of her parents. The aftermath of these images – for those within them and for Hondros himself – is examined in a not wholly successful thread which follows Campbell as he tries to track down Joe and Samer. Like other similar projects on slain combat journalists, like the Hetherington-focused WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? or JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, this elegaic film is its strongest when focused on Hondros himself, via the ample archival footage showing him in his element, compelled to bear witness to war and to capture its difficult yet unforgettable images.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 20th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
Dates:
March 2-11
About:
The notable Greek nonfiction event celebrates its anniversary milestone with approximately 165 new and recent features, in addition to retrospective programming. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, February 28:
DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?
Director:
Travis Wilkerson
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
True/False, Locarno, Camden, New York, Denver, Rotterdam
About:
The filmmaker interrogates an obscured incident from his family’s past involving the murder of an African American man.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Festival:
The 15th True/False Film Fest
Dates:
March 1-4
About:
Columbia MO’s crown jewel cultural event returns with more than 30 documentary features, a couple of narratives, some hybrids, secret screenings, retrospective presentations, game shows, and shorts. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 27:
SPETTACOLO
Directors:
Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Biografilm, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Melbourne, Cleveland, Dallas, Sarasota, Nashville, SF DocFest
About:
Italian villagers transform their lives into an annual play.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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