Coming to OVID today, Tuesday, December 20:
BALLETS RUSSES
Director:
Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine
World Premiere:
Sundance 2005
Select Festivals:
Toronto, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Milwaukee
About:
An intimate portrait of a group of pioneering artists who gave birth to modern ballet.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 20:
BRAINWASHED: SEX-CAMERA-POWER
Director:
Nina Menkes
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, IDFA, Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki Doc, BFI London, Jeonju, Istanbul, Beldocs, Docaviv, Frameline, Encounters, Bergen, Ambulante
About:
Based on Nina Menkes’ acclaimed talk “Sex & Power: The Visual Language of Cinema,” this is a mesmerizing journey into how shot design intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to OVID today, Friday, December 16:
WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED
Director:
Mariam Ghani
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sheffield, San Francisco, Kerala, Nashville, Rhode Island, Heartland, Hot Springs Doc, Philadelphia Asian American, St Louis, WatchDocs, San Diego Asian American, Cinema Verite, Goteborg, DocPoint Talinn, Ann Arbor
About:
A meditation on incomplete films made in Afghanistan during periods of instability between 1978-1992.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to OVID today, Thursday, December 15:
US KIDS
Director:
Kim A Snyder
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Doc Edge, Mountainfilm, Full Frame, Miami, Martha’s Vineyard, NewportFilm, Calgary, GlobeDocs, Bergen, Hamptons, Mill Valley
About:
The young survivors of the Parkland school shooting are followed over a transformative year and a half.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to OVID today, Wednesday, December 14:
BEST KEPT SECRET
Director:
Samantha Buck
World Premiere:
Independent Film Festival Boston 2013
Select Festivals:
Montclair, AFI Docs
About:
A look at a driven teacher of special needs students.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 13:
RIOTSVILLE, USA
Director:
Sierra Pettengill
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
New Directors/New Films, True/False, CPH:DOX, Seattle, Freep, San Francisco, Traverse City
About:
Footage shot by the media and government of a fictional town built by the US military explores the militarization of the police and the reaction of a nation to the uprisings of the late 1960s, creating a counter-narrative to a critical moment in American history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD via the Criterion Collection today, Tuesday, December 13:
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
Director:
Todd Haynes
World Premiere:
Cannes 2021
Select Festivals:
New York Film Festival, Telluride, San Sebastian, Zurich, BFI London, Chicago
About:
An exploration of how The Velvet Underground became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, December 12:
LET THE LITTLE LIGHT SHINE
Director:
Kevin Shaw
World Premiere:
True/False 2022
Select Festivals:
Black Star, Full Frame, Doc 10, Minneapolis-St Paul, Doclands, Freep, Milwaukee, Ashland
About:
A high-achieving elementary school near downtown Chicago is a lifeline for Black children – until gentrification threatens its closure.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 9:
HIDDEN LETTERS
Director:
Violet Du Feng
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022
Select Festivals:
BFI London, Hot Springs Doc, Adelaide, Bergen, Heartland, DocEdge
About:
In modern-day China, two women strive to preserve Nushu, an ancient secret language that bonded generations of Chinese women together through centuries of oppression.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, December 9:
TO THE END
Director:
Rachel Lears
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Doclisboa, Cleveland, Wisconsin, Ji.hlava, Hawai’i,
About:
Stopping the climate crisis is a question of political courage, and the clock is ticking. Over three years of turbulence and crisis, four remarkable young women of color fight for a Green New Deal, igniting a historic shift in US climate politics.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 