Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres this Friday, October 28: UNDERFIRE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PFC TONY VACCARO

Max Lewkowicz’s look at a WWII soldier’s photographic chronicle of the war debuted at Shanghai. Other festival appearances have included Margaret Mead, Tallgrass, Edmonton, San Diego, and GZDOC.

Tony Vaccaro spent about a year as a part of the US Army’s 83rd Infantry, beginning with the invasion of Normandy up to the end of the war. Drafted right after high school, he had an interest in photography, but was too young to be assigned to the Signal Corps, which oversaw combat photography. Instead, he used his own camera, shooting nearly 8000 images, even developing negatives himself in Army helmets using chemicals found in bombed out photography shops. Deeply affected by his experiences, Vaccaro, who became a professional photographer, never took another combat photo. He put away his WWII images upon returning to civilian life, not releasing them publicly until the 1990s, when they became lauded among historians and photographers alike. Lewkowicz follows the now 93-year-old as he returns to Europe, shares his thoughts on his war experiences, and reveals the stories behind several of his photographs, making for a compelling and poignant consideration of the nature and impact of war.

New to DVD and VOD this week: INDIAN POINT

Ivy Meeropol’s look at nuclear power plant safety debuted at Tribeca last year. Screenings also included Hot Docs, DC Environmental, Traverse City, Hamptons, St Louis, Big Sky, Thessaloniki Doc, Salem, and Cleveland, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, October 25: PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT

Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s profile of the art world patron debuted at Tribeca last year. Its fest circuit also included Nantucket, AFI Docs, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish, New Zealand, Melbourne, Adelaide, Vancouver, Chicago, and Stockholm, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 25: CHILDREN OF THE ARCTIC

Nick Brandestini’s look at the lives of Alaskan youth premiered at Zurich in 2014. It went on to screen at Santa Barbara, Big Sky, Cinequest, Salem, Guam, Anchorage, Available Light, and Oxford, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DDV today, Tuesday, October 25: AMONG THE BELIEVERS

Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s exploration of jihadist indoctrination made its bow at Tribeca last year. Screenings followed at IDFA, CPH:DOX, Sydney, AFI Docs, DMZ Docs, Vancouver, Stockholm, Rio, and Human Rights Watch London, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, October 25: ADVANCED STYLE

Lina Plioplyte’s look at aging in style had its premiere at Hot Docs in 2014. Screenings followed at Montclair, Melbourne, Milwaukee, Calgary, Vancouver, and Atlantic, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to Discovery tomorrow, Saturday, October 22: RATS

Morgan Spurlock’s look at the titular rodents around the globe debuted at Toronto last month. It has also screened at Camden and Fantastic Fest.

Wisely eschewing his signature on-camera presence here for a change, Spurlock remains behind the scenes as he takes viewers through an often disturbing survey of rat infestations that has been conceived of as a horror film in documentary form. Full of shock cuts, skin-crawling sound design, and more scenes of extermination than anyone would likely ever want to witness again, the doc unapologetically presents rats as a pestilence that needs to be wiped out, save for one segment, late in the film, which visits a Hindu temple dedicated to the rodents, its 35,000 rat residents lovingly viewed as reincarnated loved ones. Leaving aside the images of pilgrims praying to the scurrying critters, the remainder of the film details how invasive, ubiquitous, disease-ridden, and resistant to death rats are – this is not for animal lovers or the faint at heart. Spurlock’s main thread consists of an interview with Ed Sheehan, a veteran exterminator who looks like he’s straight out of central casting, smoking a cigar in a dark cellar and sharing his hard-fought wisdom about his longtime nemeses. Woven around his disturbing revelations are segments detailing efforts to combat or study the vermin, from a New Orleans research team documenting the disgusting parasites carried in their bodies and a Vietnam eatery that specializes in rat cuisine to a British rat terrier hunting party and a Mumbai night patrol that tries to keep infestation manageable by killing the rodents with their bare hands. While broad in its shock tactics, the film has undeniable, visceral impact as it successfully taps into the viewer’s primal repulsion to the nocturnal creatures.

Coming to PBS’s Doc World this Sunday, October 23: WAITING FOR AUGUST

Teodora Ana Mihai’s verité study of a Romanian teen’s life had its world premiere at Visions du Réel in 2014. Screenings followed at Hot Docs, Karlovy Vary, Dokufest Kosovo, Moscow, Camden, Bergen, Vancouver, DMZ Docs, IDFA, and BFI London fests, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.