Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Thursday, July 21:
WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY
Director:
Joe Hunting
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
True/False, CPH:DOX, Maryland
About:
Filmed entirely inside the world of VR, this vérité documentary captures the excitement and surprising intimacy of a burgeoning cultural movement, demonstrating the power of online connection in an isolated world.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD in re-release today, Tuesday, July 19:
THE SILVER SCREEN: COLOR ME LAVENDER
Director:
Mark Rappaport
World Premiere:
Locarno 1997
Select Festivals:
NewFest, Chicago Reeling
About:
An examination of the representation of homosexuality in Golden Age Hollywood cinema.
The film screened at NewFest, for which our program notes read:
If you thought you’d seen it all in THE CELLULOID CLOSET, think again! In this latest installment of queer film history, Mark Rappaport, the acclaimed director of ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES, enlists the talents of FRASIER co-star Dan Butler to take you on an ingenious and highly entertaining journey through the golden years of classic Hollywood cinema, highlighting the continual presence of some extremely queer characters on the silver screen. Through the skillful dissection of film clips, Rappaport offers astute and persuasive readings of particular male star personae, including Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Cary Grant, Jerry Lewis, and Clifton Webb, to demonstrate how thoroughly ambiguous Hollywood masculinity really was.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Hulu tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19:
AFTERSHOCK
Director:
Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
BlackStar, Full Frame, Hot Docs, DC/Dox, SXSW, Martha’s Vineyard African American, BAMcinemaFest, Essence Fest, American Black
About:
Following the preventable deaths of their partners due to childbirth complications, two bereaved fathers galvanize activists, birth-workers, and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 12:
THE AMERICAN SECTOR
Director:
Courtney Stephens, Pacho Velez
World Premiere:
Berlin 2020
Select Festivals:
Art of the Real, Docaviv, Camden, AFI Fest, RIDM, Maryland
About:
A road trip tracking several of the remnants of the Berlin Wall now held by American collectors and institutions.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, July 11:
WUHAN WUHAN
Director:
Yung Chang
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2021
Select Festivals:
CAAMFest, DOXA, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, Sarasota, Milwaukee, Minnesota-St Paul, DocEdge, Sebastopol Doc
About:
A look at Wuhan, China, at the peak of the pandemic lockdown, revealing the emotions and resilience at the core of our shared humanity.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres and VOD today, Friday, July 8:
DREAMING WALLS: INSIDE THE CHELSEA HOTEL
Director:
Amélie van Elmbt, Maya Duverdier
World Premiere:
Berlin 2022
Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Thessaloniki Doc, CPH:DOX, Provincetown
About:
The end of an eight-year upmarket renovation of the legendary Chelsea Hotel is partly longed for and partly dreaded by the artists who still live there.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, July 6:
FIRE OF LOVE
Director:
Sara Dosa
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, True/False, SXSW, New Directors/New Films, Docaviv, Visions du Reel, Docville, Sydney, Seattle, San Francisco, Cleveland, Ashland, RiverRun, Sun Valley, Provincetown
About:
This story of the doomed love triangle between intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft and the volcanoes they captured in their explosive archival footage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 1:
HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG
Director:
Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
World Premiere:
Telluride 2021
Select Festivals:
Venice, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Vienna, Gent, Tribeca
About:
The definitive exploration of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, Hallelujah.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, June 29:
THE ART OF MAKING IT
Director:
Kelcey Edwards
World Premiere:
Hamptons 2021
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, SXSW, Miami, Big Sky Doc, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Sebastopol Doc, Cleveland, Freep, Maryland, Minneapolis-St Paul
About:
Against the backdrop of a culture in crisis, a profile of young artists at defining moments in their careers, and of the systems intended to nurture these up-and-coming creative talents but which ultimately may be failing them instead.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Tuesday, June 28:
ENDANGERED
Director:
Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022
Select Festivals:
Nantucket
About:
A sobering look at the erosion of democracy and freedom of the press in the United States and abroad.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 