Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres this Friday, June 23:
FOOD EVOLUTION

Director:
Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2016

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Cleveland, Seattle

About:
An exploration of the polarized debate surrounding GMOs.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
As society tackles the problem of feeding our expanding population safely and sustainably, a schism has arisen between scientists and consumers, motivated by fear and distrust. Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s film, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, explores the polarized debate surrounding GMOs. Looking at the real-world application of food science in the past and present, the film argues for sound science and open-mindedness in a culture that increasingly shows resistance to both.

Coming to theatres this Friday, June 23:
ALL THE RAGE (SAVED BY SARNO)

Directors:
Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley, and David Beilinson

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2016

Select Festivals:
BAFICI, San Francisco DocFest, Chicago Underground, Big Sky Doc

About:
A doctor’s controversial approach to treating back pain upends the medical establishment.

Filmmaker Michael Galinksy once suffered from crippling back pain. After conventional treatments proved ineffective, he was directed to read the work of Dr John Sarno, who championed a re-evaluation of chronic pain as psychosomatic in nature. Though often dismissed by his peers, Sarno’s work found its champions in those it helped. Similarly finding success in Sarno’s approach, Galinsky and his collaborators set out to tell the physician’s story, only to find the project stalled due to a lack of funding. Years later, after the death of his father, Galinsky’s pain returned, providing an impetus to revisit the Sarno project, explore his treatment’s effectiveness, and try to give the polarizing figure a platform. The filmmakers effectively balance the personal and the broader elements of the story, and, depending on how much the audience buys into Sarno’s approach, suggest larger implications for both the health care system and for how conventional medical opinion treats unorthodox thinking.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 20:
SOUR GRAPES

Directors:
Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas

Premiere:
Hot Docs 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sheffield, Melbourne, Hamptons, Tallgrass

About:
The story behind one of the biggest controversies in the world of fine wine.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 16:
SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Director:
Matt Schrader

Premiere:
Hamptons 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Hawaii, Santa Barbara, CPH:DOX, RiverRun, Dallas, Cleveland, Ashland, San Francisco, Nashville, deadCENTER

About:
An inside look at the art of the film score.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Music is an integral part of most films, adding emotion and nuance while often remaining invisible to audiences. Matt Schrader shines a spotlight on the overlooked craft of film composing, gathering many of the art form’s most influential practitioners, from Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to Quincy Jones and Randy Newman, to uncover their creative process. Tracing key developments in the evolution of music in film, and exploring some of cinema’s most iconic soundtracks, Sxchrader’s doc is an aural valentine for film lovers.

New to VOD this week:
TICKLING GIANTS

Director:
Sara Taksler

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
BFI London, Just for Laughs, Bergen, Vancouver, DocPoint, Glasgow, Big Sky Doc, Stockholm, Salem, Human Rights Watch London and Toronto, Movies That Matter, Cleveland

About:
A heart surgeon-turned-comedian tests the limits of free speech in post-Mubarak Egypt.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, June 13:
THREE SISTERS

Director:
Wang Bing

Premiere:
Venice 2012

Select Festivals:
Toronto, Dubai, Hong Kong, Busan, Montreal, Jerusalem, DOK.fest Munich, Edinburgh, New Zealand, Doclisboa, BAFICI, Taipei

About:
A portrait of a poor rural Chinese family, focused on three young sisters largely fending for themselves.

Over the course of two and a half hours of observational cinema, Wang empathetically reveals the lives of Yingying, ten; Zhenzhen, six; and Fenfen, four, a trio of sisters long ago abandoned by their mother and forced to work difficult chores in a small community that has yet to see the benefits of China’s expanding economy. While their father is initially in the picture, he eventually leaves for the city, taking his youngest daughters and leaving the sad Yingying to essentially take care of herself, with minimal supervision by her neighboring grandfather. Possessed of a nagging, disturbing cough, the young girl engenders audience sympathy, but an air of hopelessness permeates the proceedings, and her future.