Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14:
TOWER

Director:
Keith Maitland

Premiere:
SXSW 2016

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Melbourne, Fantasia, the Hamptons, BFI London, Sitges, Mill Valley

Notable Recognition:
The doc was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

About:
An animated re-telling of a sniper’s attack on school campus in 1966.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, February 10 and to HBO this coming Monday, February 13:
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: NOS AMIS (OUR FRIENDS)

Director:
Colin Hanks

Premiere:
Palm Springs 2017

About:
The band returns to Paris just months after the 2015 terrorist attack at their concert which cost 89 people their lives.

Hanks provides an intimate profile of the titular band as they face the aftermath of the November 13, 2015 concert in Paris’ Bataclan theatre, one of several sites that night subject to a coordinated terrorist attack that ultimately resulted in 130 deaths and 368 injuries throughout the city. While the band, and several fans who survived the attack, offer chilling accounts of that evening, the doc wisely refrains from sharing any footage of the massacre and largely avoids speculation about the terrorists or their motivations. Aside from a particularly difficult interview conducted for French television with band frontman Jesse Hughes, there’s a distinctly apolitical stance taken here, and instead the focus falls on the deeply felt relationship between Hiughes and his longtime friend and bandmate Josh Homme. Hanks charts this special, brotherly bond from their childhood through the attack – while the latter’s commitments to other bands, including Queens of the Stone Age, kept him from attending the Bataclan performance, he has been instrumental in helping Hughes process the experience – and details their belief in the healing power of music as they prepare to perform in Paris again at the invitation of U2.

Coming to VOD via Microsoft today, Friday, February 10:
WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM

Director:
Heather Courtney

Premiere:
SXSW 2011

Select Festivals:
Los Angeles, BAMcinemaFest, Silverdocs, Traverse City, Full Frame, SF Doc, Philadelphia, Denver, Indie Memphis, Sarasota, Oslo

About:
A portrait of childhood friends as they set out for war in Afghanistan.

I wrote about the film out of SXSW here.

New to VOD via Microsoft this week:
VOLTA À TERRA

Director:
João Pedro Plácido

Premiere:
Doclisboa 2014

Select Festivals:
Chicago, Cannes (ACID), Visions du Réel, BFI London, São Paulo, DOK Leipzig, Hot Springs Doc, Camerimage, DocPoint, Festibval dei Popoli, Trento

About:
A year in the life of a small northern Portuguese village.

Uz is a community which has seen better days – at present barely 50 people call it home. Among these is Daniel, a 21-year-old who is gently teased by his fellow farmers and shepherds for his work ethic, but seems to get by alright, happy with a life rooted in traditional ways. What he lacks, however, is a wife, as available women are in short supply for the few bachelors in Uz. Plácido follows Daniel and a few other villagers over the course of four seasons, tending to their fields and livestock, working the land, and planning their annual summer festival – a rare opportunity for mixing with residents of neighboring communities. It’s here that Daniel runs into an old classmate and sees the potential for a romantic future. This well-shot film effectively captures the rhythms of rural life while offering a clear sense of some distinct personalities, resulting in a charming observational study of a place that feels from a different time.

New to VOD via iTunes today, Thursday, February 9:
THE MARCH

Director:
John Akomfrah

Premiere:
PBS (August 2013)

About:
A chronicle of the historic 1963 March on Washington for civil rights.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its broadcast here.

Coming to Starz tomorrow, Friday, February 10:
AFTER SPRING

Directors:
Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, New Orleans, Sheffield, Zurich, AFI Docs, Bergen, One World, Greenwich, Hot Springs Doc

About:
An intimate look at life in a Syrian refugee camp.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, February 10:
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.

Torun, a Turkish filmmaker now based in the US, returns to her hometown of Istanbul to capture the city from seven distinct feline perspectives, including mama cat Bengü, “jealous housewife” Psikopat, foodie Duman, and hustler Sari. Following this coterie – a small sampling of the city’s hundreds of thousands of strays – through the streets as they interact with their chosen human associates, the filmmaker crafts an infectious portrait full of charm and sweetness, at once a love letter to the regal animal and to the city itself. Interviews with admirers, and, most especially, magnificent tracking shots of the cats on the move, reveal the respect these creatures are afforded and the elegant manner in which they fit within the fabric of the ancient city.