Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, December 6: THE ANTHROPOLOGIST

Seth Kramer, Daniel A Miller, and Jeremy Newberger’s anthropological look at climate change made its bow at DOC NYC last year. The doc went on to screen at Cleveland, Dallas, RiverRun, Minneapolis, IFF Boston, Cucalorus, and San Francisco Green, among other events. It now comes to VOD via iTunes.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: MUDBLOODS

Farzad Nikbakht Sangari’s look at a Harry Potter-inspired real-world sport debuted at AFI Docs in 2014. Its festival circuit also included Tacoma, IdeaFestival, Hot Springs, Potter Fest, Philadelphia, Hawaii, Gold Crest, and Napa Valley.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: THE DYING OF THE LIGHT

Peter Flynn’s reflections on film projection had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. It has gone on to screen at Rotterdam, Jaipur, Mar Del Plata, and Taipei Golden Horse, among other events.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Within the last decade, movie theaters have made the transition to digital projection, ending the reign of film after more than a century. As the technology has changed, moving obsolete film projectors into the realm of the odd collector, the skills of seasoned film projectionists are also in danger of being lost forever. By turns humorous and melancholic, their candid reflections on life in the projection booth reveal a world that has largely gone unnoticed and is now at an end. Peter Flynn’s thoughtful film is a bittersweet ode to this vanishing craft and a celebration of the men and women who once brought light to our screens.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: TREE MAN

Jon Reiner and Brad Rothschild’s look at the life of a Christmas tree salesman debuted at Montreal World last year. Its fest circuit also included DOC NYC, St Lawrence, and DocUtah. It now comes to VOD via iTunes.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD this coming Tuesday, December 6: THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YO YO MA & THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE

Morgan Neville’s profile of the world music collective debuted at Toronto in 2015. Screenings followed at Berlin, True/False, San Francisco, Montclair, DocAviv, Los Angeles, Sydney, Provincetown, and Biografilm, among other fests.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 2: TWO TRAINS RUNNIN’

Sam Pollard’s chronicle of the 1964 search for unsung blues performers made its bow at Full Frame earlier this year. Screenings also include New York Film Festival, New Orleans, Sheffield, Traverse City, Vancouver, Portland, DocuWest, deadCENTER, March on Washington, Hot Springs Doc, Woodstock, Austin, and Chicago, among other events.

As signaled by its title, Pollard’s project follows two parallel tracks: the pivotal activities taking place in Mississippi as part of Freedom Summer, an volunteer-driven effort to register African-American voters in the state; and a separate search by groups of blues aficionados for two lost pioneering African-American musicians, Skip James and Son House, in the same region. These two threads occasionally intersect – though the film perhaps overemphasizes the connections – but the bulk of the story is about the musician search and resultant revival of interest in their music for a new generation of, pointedly, largely white audiences, making an argument for the importance of this acknowledgement of the influence of African-American music on popular mainstream culture. Pollard employs animation and music as a welcome counterbalance to a sometimes too-heavy use of narration delivered by musician Common, helping to elevate the proceedings and making for compelling viewing.