Category Archives: Recommendations

New to VOD this week:
BEBA

Director:
Rebeca Huntt

World Premiere:
Toronto 2021

Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, Docaviv, Miami, Tribeca, Provincetown, Minneapolis-St Paul

About:
A raw, poetic self-portrait in which a young, NYC-born Afro-Latina filmmaker stares down historical, societal, and generational trauma.

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.

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.

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.

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.