Festival:
The 64th Sydney Film Festival
Dates:
June 7-18
About:
Approximately 60 new documentaries screen out of a lineup consisting of over 150 features. Continue reading
Category Archives: Recommendations
Sydney 2017: Documentary Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD: THE FREEDOM TO MARRY
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 6:
THE FREEDOM TO MARRY
Director:
Eddie Rosenstein
Premiere:
Frameline 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hawaii, Savannah, Big Sky Doc, Sebastopol Doc, Jewish fests in SF, Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia, LGBT fests in Houston, Austin, Durham, Atlanta, Melbourne, Seoul
About:
A behind-the-scenes look at the fight to legalize same-sex unions in America.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: ELIÁN
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 6:
ELIÁN
Directors:
Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals::
Montclair
About:
A look back at the story of the 6-year-old Cuban boy who became a symbol of US/Cuban relations in 1999-2000.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: A GOOD AMERICAN
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6:
A GOOD AMERICAN
Director:
Frederich Moser
Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2015
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Rotterdam, Portland, Sedona, Diagonale, Movies That Matter, Cleveland, RiverRun, DOXA, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Dokufest
About:
The little-known story of how the NSA abandoned an effective intelligence-gathering system before the 9/11 attacks.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Special Screening: CHASING CORAL
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6:
CHASING CORAL
Director:
Jeff Orlowski
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, Sundance London, San Francisco, Boulder, Seattle, Sydney
About:
A race to chronicle the climate change-driven destruction of coral reefs around the world.
I previously profiled the doc before Sundance
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
On DVD: JAMES BEARD: AMERICA’S FIRST FOODIE
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6:
JAMES BEARD: AMERICA’S FIRST FOODIE
Director:
Elizabeth Federici
Premiere:
Sonoma 2017
About:
A portrait of the influential food author, instructor, and personality.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On DVD: JACQUES PÉPIN: THE ART OF CRAFT
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6:
JACQUES PÉPIN: THE ART OF CRAFT
Director:
Peter L Stein
Premiere:
American Masters (May 2017)
About:
A celebration of the acclaimed French chef and his impact on American food culture.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On VOD: ELIÁN
Coming to VOD today, Friday, June 2:
ELIÁN
Directors:
Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals::
Montclair
About:
A look back at the story of the 6-year-old Cuban boy who became a symbol of US/Cuban relations in 1999-2000.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: THE AMERICAN EPIC SESSIONS
Coming to PBS tonight, Friday, June 2:
THE AMERICAN EPIC SESSIONS
Director:
Bernard MacMahon
Premiere:
BFI London 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hawaii, Göteborg, IDFA
About:
A celebration of early music recording.
I profiled the program before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Special Screening: RAT FILM
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Friday, June 2:
RAT FILM
Director:
Theo Anthony
Premiere:
Locarno 2016
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, True/False, SXSW, Florida, Maryland, Art of the Real, Docaviv, Doclisboa, Vancouver, Mar del Plata, Torino
About:
A provocative essay about Baltimore’s rodents emerges as a simultaneous cultural anthropology of race and class.
Anthony’s film serves as a contemplation not only of the infestation of the city by rats – checking in with rat killers patrolling the streets, presenting crude video game footage approximating a rat’s perspective of the city, and offering observations about scientific rat studies – but also expand beyond this to consider the “people problem” in Baltimore, linking historical urban planning that segregated based on race and economics with approaches to pest control. Taking a page out of mentor Werner Herzog’s playbook, Anthony presents these tangential but more-or-less connected threads via a detached narrator, keeping the viewer engaged with curious looks at crime-scene dioramas and strange virtual reality asides, alongside investigative journalism and history lessons. The result is an original project that works more often than it doesn’t, and which remains ever-intriguing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
