Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to NYC’s Anthology Film Archives today, Friday, August 19: LAMPEDUSA IN WINTER

Jakob Brossmann’s portrait of an Italian island’s Sisyphean struggle with the international refugee crisis had its world premiere at Locarno last year. Since then it has screened at IDFA, Sydney, New Zealand, Stockholm, Watch Docs, BelDocs, DOXA, DocPoint, CPH:DOX, and Ischia, among other events.

Located on Europe’s outer edge, the small island of Lampedusa has long been the destination for African refugees seeking an escape from poverty, persecution, and conflict. In the face of the ongoing refugee crisis, residents have seen a constant stream of desperate people crossing the Mediterranean, often needing to be rescued by the Lampedusian coast guard – or, tragically, losing their lives at sea. Brossmann chronicles two winters on the island, painting a portrait of the community as it contends with its unenviable position at the center of the refugee crisis and the pressures this brings to bear on daily life. In this observational study, various figures emerge – the local radio station’s acerbic DJ, the town’s embattled mayor, a concerned woman who tries to help refugees stuck in processing limbo, museum curators who comb though the detritus of a refugee ship graveyard for items to display, and factions of fisherman who protest inadequate ferry services to the mainland. This is a quiet, but impactful, microcosmic look at the greatest humanitarian crisis of the present day, as experienced by those who have no choice but to respond.

New to DVD this week: I AM JFK JR

Derik Murray’s candid portrait of America’s “crown prince” made its debut on Spike earlier this month. It was followed the next day with a VOD release.

The latest in Murray’s line of I AM profiles of late celebrities, previously having covered the likes of Chris Farley, Evel Knievel, and Steve McQueen, hews close to his established formula. He gathers those close to his subject – in this case friends rather than any of the private Kennedy clan – to reveal his personality, ambitions, and achievements, helped to a great extent by existing archival footage. With a charismatic, attractive figure who was covered by the media in all facets of his life starting at his very birth, the director has a lot with which to work. Still, the implication of a tell-all personal confessional that is attached to the title seems ill at ease with someone like JFK Jr, particularly as the film addresses the weight of the world’s attention – and expectations – given his influential family. Leaving that quibble aside, Murray treats Kennedy with respect, demonstrating pointedly his desire to become his own man, out from under the shadow cast by his father and JFK’s Camelot. With interviewees here offering speculation about the political career the district attorney and GEORGE magazine founder might have had, however, the sense of a life cut short and potential unrealized linger over the proceedings, giving viewers much food for thought.

New to DVD this week: THE BOYS OF ’36

Margaret Grossi’s tale of rowing Olympians premiered on PBS’s American Experience earlier this month.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 16: BOLSHOI BABYLON

Director Nick Read and co-director Mark Franchetti’s exploration of dramatic turmoil behind the legendary ballet company made its bow at Toronto last year. Screenings followed at DOC NYC, Hamptons, CPH:DOX, IDFA, New Zealand, Docville, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Munich, among other fests.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 16: OUR LAST TANGO

German Kral’s tale of passion and drama between legendary dancers debuted at Toronto last year. It also screened at Miami, Cleveland, Stockholm, San Diego Latino, Sarasota, the Film Society’s Dance on Film, and Minneapolis/St Paul, among other events.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to Investigation Discovery this Sunday, August 14: DREAM/KILLER

Andrew Jenks’ look at a bizarre murder conviction debuted at Tribeca last year. The film went on to screen at Montclair, Sidewalk, Kansas, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, Hamptons, and CPH:DOX, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 12: ABORTION: STORIES WOMEN TELL

Tracy Droz Tragos’ intimate exploration of women’s feelings on a divisive issue had its world premiere at Tribeca earlier this year. It also screened at AFI Docs, San Francisco DocFest, and the San Francisco Jewish film festivals.

As denoted by its subtitle, Tragos’ film is focused primarily on personal stories, even as it addresses the inescapable political and religious sentiments that accompany any consideration of the reproductive rights debate. Grounding her project in Missouri, due to that state’s restrictive laws, the filmmaker follows women who must make a long journey across the border to seek help in Illinois, while also profiling those who work in reproductive health, and, notably, others who have made it their mission to do away with abortion rights altogether. What emerges is a deeply compassionate multiperspectival portrait of the impact of abortion on these individuals lives, from a clinic’s non-nonsense security officer contending with daily irritation from pro-life protestors to a financial-strapped working mother in the process of ending her third pregnancy. Anti-abortion activists are offered respectful space to air their convictions, but their purely religiously-motivated arguments are unlikely to sway their opponents, who are instead influenced by a wider range of factors, systemic inequities encompassing class, race, education, and, most significantly, gender.