Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 26:
ESCAPES

Director:
Michael Almereyda

Premiere:
BAMcinemaFest 2016

Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, San Francisco (both as WIP)

About:
An unconventional biography of occasional actor and BLADE RUNNER screenwriter Hampton Fancher.

On the surface, Fancher would seem to be an unlikely subject for a documentary profile, except perhaps one wholly focused on BLADE RUNNER – and even then, likely primarily suited to that film’s admirers. That’s decidedly not what Almereyda has crafted here, which instead in many ways looks beyond Fancher himself to explore the escapism of storytelling, and, specifically, of Hollywood. His leading man is still front and center, but it’s largely through the images he was part of that his outrageous, perhaps not wholly believable, biography is revealed. Almereyda alternates sections of biography, conveyed through terse screencards, with long stretches of anecdotes – usually involving famous women he seduced –
delivered in voiceover by his subject, and illustrated via clips from the various television shows and obscure films in which he appeared. If at first seemingly too clever by half, the technique soon underscores Fancher’s presence as a not completely sympathetic or reliable narrator, but one who still seems authentically representative of the mythmaking of his industry.

Coming back to PBS’s American Experience – in recognition of the event’s 50th anniversary – tomorrow, Tuesday, July 25:
SUMMER OF LOVE

Directors:
Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco

Premiere:
American Experience (April 2007)

About:
An in-depth look at the convergence of the counterculture in San Francisco in the summer of 1967.

This look back to the utopian vision of a new youth-driven, free-thinking society is bookended with the Golden Gate Park Human Be-In in January 1967, and the Death of the Hippie mock funeral in October of the same year. The first event, and Timothy Leary’s call for everyone to “turn on, tune, drop out,” served as a clarion call, drawing would-be hippies to San Francisco from all corners of the country – an onslaught that SF city officials resisted and that the counterculture’s limited infrastructure was ultimately unable to properly handle, leading to serious problems, from drug overdoses to the exploitation of youth. Dolgin and Franco concisely explore both why the hippie counterculture emerged in the tempestuous 1960s and why San Francisco became, for many, its hub, drawing on the memories of participants in that unforgettable summer and ample archival footage that showed the transformation of Haight-Ashbury, the response of longtime residents, and the curious onlookers who contributed to the sensationalism of the phenomenon.

Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, July 24:
SHALOM ITALIA

Director:
Tamar Tal Anati

Premiere:
Docaviv 2016

Select Festivals:
IDFA, AFI Docs, Festival Dei Popoli, Cleveland, Jewish fests in Los Angeles, Calgary, and Philadelphia

About:
Three Jewish brothers return to their native Italy to find the cave in which they hid from the Nazis.

Emmanuel, Andrea, and Bubi, together with their other family members escaped Nazi persecution by living in a makeshift cave in the Tuscan woods for several months. They eventually emigrated to Israel, but now, nearly seven decades later, they reunite to revisit their old homeland and to see if they can find the sanctuary. The eldest, Emmanuel, has never previously returned – having been forced to grow up too fast, he has little interest in reliving old trauma – but the youngest, Bubi, with few memories of the time, convinced him to help find the place that saved their lives. In between treks in the wood, the brothers share meals and memories, humorously argue as family members do, and, most interestingly, confront the slippages between memories, mythologies, and truths – as revealed when they meet up with a neighbor whose version of her family’s role in their story don’t seem to match their own.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 21:
THE PULITZER AT 100

Director:
Kirk Simon

Premiere:
Hot Docs Doc Soup (June 2016)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Documentary Edge

About:
An examination of the rich legacy of the Pulitzer Prize.

A celebration less of the award than of the artists and writers who have been recognized with the honor over its century-long existence, Simon’s film demonstrates the power of storytelling and speaking truth to power. Interviews with winners of the prestigious award address their work and its impact on society – as well as the impact of the award on expanding their audience. In a present culture that sees journalism being subject to attack by the Oval Office, and facing economic viability on a more general level, it’s important to have a reminder of the necessity of recognizing and honoring its accomplishments.

Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema this Friday and Saturday, July 21-22 and already on VOD via Netflix and ARRAY:
THE HOUSE ON COCO ROAD

Director:
Damani Baker

Premiere:
Los Angeles 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Bahamas, Pan African, Atlanta, Toronto Black

About:
A young African-American activist seeks a haven for her family in Grenada, only to face an invasion by the US military.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In 1983, Fannie Haughton, a young activist and teacher inured to injustices facing African Americans, sought a haven for her family in Grenada, an island nation that had seen an Afrocentric revolution just four years prior. Not too long after, the island was invaded by the US military, and the dream of a socialist utopia became a victim of Cold War politics. Haughton’s son Damani Baker revisits this story, couching it in a larger tale of black activism, as embodied by his mother.

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 19:
ROMEO IS BLEEDING

Director:
Jason Zeldes

Premiere:
San Francisco 2015

Select Festivals:
Seattle, Berkshire, Newport Beach, Cleveland, St Louis, Aspen, St Louis, Hot Springs Doc, Napa Valley, Honolulu, Sarasota, Florida, RiverRun, Urbanworld

About:
A young African-American man turns to Shakespeare to address the violence in his community.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to DVD this week:
MEN OF THE CLOTH

Directors:
Vicki Vasilopoulos

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2013

Select Festivals:
Montclair, LA Femme, Hamptons Take 2 Doc

About:
A profile of three master tailors.

I previously wrote about the doc here.