Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to PBS’s Doc World this Sunday, October 9: KISMET

Nina Maria Paschalidou’s look at fans of Turkish soap operas debuted at IDFA in 2013. Screenings followed at Sarajevo, Thessaloniki Doc, One World, Planete Doc, Margaret Mead, and Tempo Doc, among other events.

Noting the widespread popularity of Turkish soaps not only domestically, but across the Middle East, the Balkans, and North Africa, Paschalidou profiles the unexpected sociocultural influence they have wielded on their fans. Despite hewing closely to the often melodramatic conventions of the genre, with no shortage of romance, sex, and violence, serials like NOOR and FATMAGUL have attracted a fanbase among the devoutly religious, Muslim and Christian alike. Rather than being shocked by the taboos they witness onscreen, these women instead have found models by which they can examine their own lives, and, in several cases noted here, demand change. Witnessing heroines confront rape, seek divorce, or protest honor killings, viewers have followed suit to demand justice and more equitable treatment. Paschalidou ably demonstrates the real-world consequences of what is typically dismissed as throwaway entertainment, prompting a re-examination of the genre much like 1930s-’40s “women’s films” have been reassessed as subversive commentary on gender roles.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 7: 13TH

Ava DuVernay’s wide-ranging examination of the systematic criminalization of African Americans made its world premiere last week as the first-ever documentary to open the New York Film Festival. It now comes to VOD exclusively through Netflix, along with a limited theatrical release. It will also screen at DOC NYC next month as part of the Short List section of anticipated awards contenders.

DuVernay’s incendiary film grounds its analysis through a hyper-focused consideration of the 13th amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery but for a critical exception – “except as a punishment for crime.” With that loophole, former slaves – and their descendants, to this day – did not attain freedom, but instead were immediately rebranded as “criminals,” and American slavery merely transformed, rather than vanished. This comes as no major revelation to the bevy of talking head experts, many of them academics, that convey the film’s arguments, but will prove eye-opening to a wider audience, as they learn how, from the very beginning of emancipation, African-Americans were arrested in droves for minor offenses – often related to joblessness or poverty – and punished with forced labor, buoying up the Southern economy which was devastated by the loss of free labor that came with the abolition of slavery. DuVernay follows these historical developments through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, and the war on drugs, as, increasingly, politicians’ “tough on crime” stances became a veiled way to attack African-Americans, gaining favor with and reassuring white voters, while ultimately opening prison doors en masse to people of color. Where the film stumbles slightly is in its extended consideration of the impact of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on drafting or supporting legislation like “Stand Your Ground” that has further served to do damage to people of color while simultaneously providing a pipeline to fill member corporations’ for-profit prisons. While the information presented is important, it feels of a different piece with the rest of the film, and, perhaps, deserves its own, separate project. Regardless, DuVernay’s film emerges as a provocative, cogent, and timely analysis of systemic inequality in American, and one that should prove illuminating – if not downright transformative – for viewers.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 7: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

Tom Donahue’s look at veterans and mental health made its debut at DOC NYC last year. Its festival circuit has included Miami, Montclair, Big Sky Doc, Santa Barbara, GI Film Festival, Illuminate, and Maine, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, October 4: HOT TYPE: 150 YEARS OF THE NATION

Barbara Kopple’s look at the history and influence of the prominent magazine debuted at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight last year. It has since screened at nantucket, Sarasota, IFF Boston, AFI Docs, and Montclair, among other fests.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, October 3: CLASS DIVIDE

Marc Levin’s look at gentrification through the lens of a school premiered at the Hamptons last year. Screenings followed at DOC NYC and at Havana’s International Festival of New Latin American Cinema.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week: PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL

Gini Reticker’s look at the women-led peace movement in Liberia debuted at Tribeca in 2008, where it won the Best Documentary award. Screenings followed at IDFA, São Paulo, Silverdocs, Traverse City, Jackson Hole, Heartland, Palm Springs, St Louis, and One World. The doc was just released on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu.

After a civil war which saw dictator Charles Taylor rise to power, LIberia became embroiled in a second civil war pitting warlords against the despot. In the middle, citizens suffered, with more than a million LIberians killed or displaced by the conflict. Reticker focuses on the unlikely but remarkably effective actions of a group of Christian women who grew a church prayer for peace into an activist movement that inspired a parallel Muslim conclave. With religion a factor in the civil war, between a supposedly devout Christian Taylor and predominantly Muslim rebels, the women’s unity across religious lines helped their cause for peace. Using whatever tactics they could come up with – including withholding sex and shaming men by threatening to strip naked in front of them – the activists forced participation in peace negotiations, and, ultimately, worked together to witness the election of the first female head of state in Africa, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. While no-frills in its approach, the film succeeds by virtue of its compelling subjects and their dogged determination for peace.