Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, March 1:
KIKI
Director:
Sara Jordenö
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Berlin, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Tempo Doc, Sarasota, Ambulante, Full Frame, Montclair, BAMcinemaFest, Tel Aviv, Outfest, Inside Out, Frameline, and LGBT fests in Torino, Portland, Atlanta, Sao Paulo, and Austin
About:
A profile of NYC’s vibrant LGBTQ youth ballroom scene.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Wednesday, March 1:
DEEP RUN
Director:
Hillevi Loven
Premiere:
Frameline 2015
Seelct Festivals:
DOC NYC, Outfest, San Diego, Indie Grits, RiverRun, Belfast, Woodstock, LGBT fests in Austin, Denver, Stockholm, Atlanta, Miami, Melbourne, Seattle
About:
A portrait of transgender life in the rural South.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Spike TV tonight, Wednesday, March 1:
TIME: THE KALIEF BROWDER STORY
Director:
Jenner Furst
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
About:
A six-part docuseries exploring the consequences of the wrongful incarceration of a 16-year-old.
I profiled the series before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The 14th edition of the True/False Film Fest takes place this weekend, starting Thursday, March 2 and wrapping on Sunday, March 5. More than 30 new and retrospective features, including several hush-hush “secret screenings,” will be showcased in the welcoming college town of Columbia MO, a line-up of highlights from notable events like Sundance, IDFA, Toronto, and elsewhere, as well as several new titles. While I’m sadly missing the festival this year, here’s a brief look at some of the new or under-the-radar titles I’d be checking out if I were in attendance:
Among these are Chico Pereira’s infectiously charming DONKEYOTE (pictured), which follows the director’s uncle as he sets off on a quixotic trip with his faithful donkey and dog; Viktor Jakovleski’s BRIMSTONE & GLORY, a portrait of a Mexican town known for its fireworks; Shevaun Mizrahi’s DISTANT CONSTELLATION, on life in an Istanbul retirement home; Florent Vassault’s LINDY LOU, JUROR NUMBER 2, which accompanies the titular figure as she revisits a trial that has haunted her for twenty years; Fan Jian’s STILL TOMORROW, a portrait of Chinese woman who experiences unexpected fame; and Lea Glob and Mette Carla Albrechtsen’s VENUS, which surveys 100 women on their sexual history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 28:
RACHEL CARSON
Director:
Michelle Ferrari
Premiere:
American Experience (January 2017)
About:
A portrait of the woman whose writing popularized the environmental movement.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 28:
MAGNUS
Director:
Benjamin Ree
Premiere:
Tribeca 2016
Select Festivals:
Munich, Traverse City, Moscow, Zurich, Vancouver, Hamptons
About:
A profile of Norwegian chess wunderkind Magnus Carlsen.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 28:
BE HERE NOW: THE ANDY WHITFIELD STORY
Director:
Lilibet Foster
Premiere:
Los Angeles 2015
Select Festivals:
Hot Springs Doc, Santa Barbara, Documentary Edge, Sedona
About:
An actor and his family struggle against a devastating cancer diagnosis.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28:
KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE
Director:
Robert Greene
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Berlin, True/False, Indielisboa, DocAviv, Sydney, BAMcinemaFest, New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney
About:
An actress researches a particularly challenging role.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28:
BROTHER’S KEEPER
Directors:
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofksy
Premiere:
Sundance 1992
Select Festivals:
Toronto, Chicago
About:
The lives of the aging Ward brothers are upended when one is accused of murder.
Presented on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, Berlinger and Sinofsky’s acclaimed portrait explores the strange case of the 1990 death of 64-year-old William Ward, in small town Munnsville NY. Together with with his three brothers, known collectively to townsfolk as “the Ward Boys,” William had lived in poverty conditions for his entire life, and had been sick for quite some time. Despite what seemed to be a clear case of death by natural causes, his brother Delbert soon found himself accused of murder, and the case attracted national media attention. The larger Munnsville community rallied behind Delbert, despite having previously viewed the Ward Boys as outcasts, raising bail money to free him from jail. Adopting a direct cinema approach, the filmmakers follow Delbert and his brothers, listen as neighbors weigh in on the case, and chronicle the trial, including the theories the prosecutors come up with to explain the supposed murder, from mercy killing to incestuous crime of passion. Addressing issues of class, regionalism, and criminal justice, and at once engendering sympathy for their subjects yet careful to allow an ambiguity regarding what really happened, the film rightfully has left its mark as a seminal work of documentary filmmaking.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, February 27:
TICKLED
Directors:
David Farrier and Dylan Reeve
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, Cleveland, Sarasota, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Montclair, Seattle, Sydney, Auckland
About:
Journalists embark on a wild investigation into an online fetish subculture.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 