Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, May 15:
MOMMY DEAD AND DEAREST

Director:
Erin Lee Carr

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Docaviv

About:
A girl plagued by health problems and her doting mother find themselves at the center of a shocking crime.

Dee Dee Blanchard was a loving, protective caretaker to her wheelchair-bound young daughter Gypsy Rose, who suffered from a range of debilitating physical and developmental conditions, including leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and mental retardation. The Hurricane Katrina survivors charmed everyone they met in their new community of Springfield MO with their devotion to one another. When Dee Dee is found brutally murdered, with Gypsy Rose nowhere to be found and her Facebook page celebrating her mother’s death, their close-knit community begins to question everything they thought they knew about the pair. But this dark turn in the Blanchards’ story is not the strangest thing that emerges, as this riveting film reveals. Carr expertly peels back a lifetime of deception, neuroses, and abuse to reveal a surprising, disturbing true crime tale which prompts the audience to change their sympathies with each twist and turn.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 15:
FOREVER PURE

Director:
Maya Zinshtein

Premiere:
Jerusalem 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Zurich, Chicago, Palm Springs, Gothenburg, Watch Docs, Cleveland, Seattle

About:
Fans turn against an Israeli soccer team when the owner signs two Chechnan Muslim players.

Zinshtein’s film focuses on Beitar Jerusalem FC and an outspoken group of fans, known as La Familia, as both players and adherents reckon with the divisive decision of team owner Arcadi Gaydamak to add Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev to the roster. Long linked to conservative political party Likud, Beitar experiences a shocking backlash as La Familia organizes protests adorned with racist slogans and rejects formerly beloved team players who dare to support Sadayev and Kadiyev. Zinshtein captures the scandal as it unfolds, expanding beyond the pitch to impact larger Israeli society, while she also explores Gaydamak’s motivations and the financial and political undercurrents of sports.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, May 12:
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.

McDonnell and Golden chronicle the 150+ days Elián Gonzales spent in the media spotlight after he was rescued from drowning by two fishermen, Donato and Sam, following an attempt by Elián’s mother to take a boat from Cuba to Miami. Caught in a very public tug-of-war between his father, still in Cuba, and his Miami relatives, including his surrogate mother figure, cousin Marisleysis, which quickly became emblematic of US/Cuban relations, and, particularly, the contentious relationship between Cuban-Americans and their home country. Utilizing contemporary news footage alongside new interviews with principal players in the saga – including a now 23-year-old Elián – the filmmakers craft a comprehensive and engaging film from a familiar story. While perhaps too grounded in a play-by-play of Elián’s time in Miami, and somewhat shortshrifting the details of his subsequent life in Cuba, the film offers an intriguing wider, critical scope as it considers the impact this political hot potato issue had on the 2000 US presidential election.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, May 9:
MOM AND ME

Director:
Ken Wardrop

Premiere:
Telluride 2015

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Cleveland, RiverRun, Edinburgh, Sydney, Denver

About:
An exploration of the unique bond between mothers and sons.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s lineup, saying:
Just before Mother’s Day, a local talk radio show in Oklahoma City – “the manliest city in the United States” – asks male listeners to call in and talk about their relationships with their moms. The responses frame this warm, often humorous film. Exhibiting surprising vulnerability and sharing alternately charming and poignant stories, callers are a diverse group, from a contrite prisoner eager to reconnect with his wronged mom to a bachelor whose mother badgers him for grandkids. Ultimately, what emerges is a multifaceted exploration of a bond that is unique for each mother-son pair, yet wonderfully universal at the same time.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, May 9:
KEDI

Director:
Ceyda Torun

Premiere:
!f Istanbul 2016

Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Sheffield, Seattle, Melbourne, Vancouver, DocPoint, Goteborg, Salem, Palm Springs

About:
Istanbul through the eyes of its colorful street cats.

I previously wrote about the doc here.