Category Archives: Recommendations

New to VOD this past weekend:
GENERATION STARTUP

Directors:
Cynthia Wade and Cheryl Miller Houser

Premiere:
Traverse City 2016

Select Festivals:
Milwaukee

About:
An exploration of Detroit’s young entrepreneurs.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to Logo this Thursday, April 6 and to VOD this Saturday, April 8:
STRIKE A POSE

Directors:
Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan

Premiere:
Berlin 2016

Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Hot Docs, Sheffield, DocAviv, BAFICI, Chicago, Biografilm, Jeonju, Krakow, Sydney, Bogota, Helsinki, Rio, Hot Springs Doc, In-Edit, Provincetown, Outfest, Frameline, NewFest, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Austin, Vancouver, Honolulu, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Montreal

About:
Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour dancers revisit their brush with fame, 25 years later.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this past weekend:
FRACKMAN

Director:
Richard Todd

Co-Director:
Jonathon Stack

Premiere:
Byron Bay 2015

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Balinale

About:
A profile of an unlikely activist.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
When Aussie everyman Dayne Pratzky left Sydney to build a home in rural Tara, he never expected he’d find himself in a battle over one of today’s most contentious issues: fracking. After the gas companies arrive to exploit the coal seam gas trapped beneath his land, Dayne learns he has no legal recourse to stop their activity. Galvanized to take a stand, the accidental activist unites an unlikely alliance of farmers and radicals to save their community, unexpectedly becoming part of a global network in the process.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, April 4:
THE AGE OF CONSEQUENCES

Director:
Jared P Scott

Premiere:
Hot Docs 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sheffield, Telluride Mountainfilm, Antenna Doc, Waimea Ocean Festival, Wild & Scenic

About:
Global unrest viewed through the lens of climate change.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 4:
DIVING INTO THE UNKNOWN

Director:
Juan Reina

Premiere:
DocPoint 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Visions du Reel, Hot Docs, Docs Against Gravity, Reykjavik, Edinburgh, Documentary Edge

About:
A team of divers risk their own safety on a covert mission.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
After a diving expedition in an underwater cave results in tragedy, two Finnish divers seem forever lost. Unable to recover their remains safely, authorities call off their investigation and bar further diving. Determined to honor their fallen comrades and bring closure to their families, surviving team members plan a dangerous covert operation to return to the cave and retrieve their friends. Juan Reina follows their harrowing mission as they confront their own fears in the name of brotherhood.

New to VOD this past weekend:
AMONG THE BELIEVERS

Directors:
Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi

Premiere:
Tribeca 2015

Select Festivals:
IDFA, CPH:DOX, Sydney, AFI Docs, DMZ Docs, Vancouver, Stockholm, Rio, Human Rights Watch London

About:
A candid look at a radical Muslim cleric’s indoctrination of young children into jihad.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, April 3:
ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL

Director:
Tracy Droz Tragos

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, San Francisco DocFest, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

About:
Women candidly share personal stories about the perennially controversial issue.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
RAISING BERTIE

Director:
Margaret Byrne

Premiere:
Full Frame 2016

Select Festivals:
Sarasota, Bentonville, AFI Docs, Atlanta Docufest, Chicago, Citizen Jane, Cucalorus, Big Sky Doc

About:
An observational coming-of-age portrait of three African-American teenagers in rural North Carolina.

Set in Bertie County, one of the poorest communities in the state, Byrne’s six-year longitudinal profile centers on Reginald AKA Junior, Davonte AKA Dada, and David AKA Bud, who, initially, are part of an alternative high school called the Hive, a safe place for at-risk youth to continue their schooling. Over the course of the film, the three young men face difficult choices that often come hand-in-hand with poverty – completing their education, contending with unemployment, navigating the challenges posed by family members’ incarceration, and the adult responsibilities of young father. Through a strong verité approach, the film captures their transition from teens to young men with poignancy and surprising candor and vulnerability.