The 68th edition of the Locarno Film Festival launches tonight, Wednesday, August 5, and will screen approximately 100 new feature films before it wraps on Saturday, August 15. Once again, the event has shown a welcome acceptance of nonfiction nearly on par with its fiction offerings, and includes more than forty new documentaries or hybrids in its line-up. As has been the custom for several years, these are integrated throughout nearly all of the various sections of the festival, with some highlights noted below: Continue reading
Category Archives: Recommendations
Locarno 2015: Documentary Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: THE NIGHTMARE
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 4: THE NIGHTMARE
Rodney Ascher’s unsettling look at the phenomenon of sleep paralysis had its world premiere at Sundance at the beginning of the year. Screenings followed at Hot Docs, SXSW, Seattle, and the Stanley Film Festival.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On Cable: BACK ON BOARD: GREG LOUGANIS
Coming to HBO tomorrow, Tuesday, August 4: BACK ON BOARD: GREG LOUGANIS
Cheryl Furjanic’s portrait of the Olympic diving champion made its bow at AFI Docs last year. Its fest circuit also included DOC NYC, New Orleans, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Big Sky, Cleveland, Hot Springs Doc, Ashland, Frameline, Outfest, and other fests on the LGBT circuit, including Portland, Seattle, Miami, Denver, Honolulu, and Boston.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
This strikingly candid profile explores the triumphs and tragedies of Greg Louganis, considered by many the greatest diver of all time. A four-time Olympian, Louganis became a household name and an inspiration to countless athletes, but after he publicly revealed his sexuality and HIV status, the backlash cost him dearly. BACK ON BOARD follows Louganis as he simultaneously faces the loss of his home and the possibility of redemption, returning to the diving board to mentor the 2012 US Olympic diving team.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: BEATS OF THE ANTONOV
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, August 3: BEATS OF THE ANTONOV
Hajooj Kuka’s look at the role of community in the face of a refugee crisis had its world premiere at Toronto last year, where it claimed an audience award. Other fest appearances have included Dubai, Goteborg, Carthage, FESPACO, Luxor, Human Rights Watch, Tempo Doc, San Francisco, Seattle, Encounters, and Sydney, among others.
Set along the border of Sudan and South Sudan, an area emblematic of the half-century civil war that has plagued the only-recently separated countries, Kuka’s film focuses on refugees from the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, only a fraction of the 1.5 million Sudanese displaced by the conflict. Despite being subject to frequent bombing raids by the Sudanese government against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, carried out by the Russian-made Antonov planes that lend the film its title, this community of farmers, herders, and rebels show a surprising resilience, laughing upon the completion of a bombardment as a show that they have once again survived. As Kuka’s untraditional portrait unfolds, it demonstrates the role music plays in bonding the people, surveyed here in vignettes as they express their views on the conflict and its impact on their lives, showcased through their employment of music and dance.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On TV: TOE TAG PAROLE: TO LIVE AND DIE ON YARD A
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, August 3: TOE TAG PAROLE: TO LIVE AND DIE ON YARD A
Alan Raymond and Susan Raymond’s exploration of life in prison without the hope of parole makes its world premiere on the acclaimed cable network.
Set in the maximum-security California State Prison in the Mojave Desert, the film focuses on its Progressive Programming Facility, also referred to as Yard A or the Honor Yard, a program specifically geared to inmates sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. For this population of 600, Yard A provides a refuge from the culture of violence that plagues most prisons: Beyond offering opportunities to focus on spirituality, art, and music, a pre-requisite of participating in the program is the eschewal of longstanding prison mores like drugs, gang activity, and self-imposed racial segregation. The filmmakers profile several of the inmates, identifying their crimes, and showcasing the programs they’re engaged in, from painting murals to anger management. While some interviewees cling to their claims of innocence, others own up to their crimes, reconciled to the reality that, barring a legislative change, they will die in prison, since, as one inmate notes, life without parole is essentially just another kind of death sentence. Coming at a time when prison reform has entered the national dialogue, the Raymonds’ candid film also draw attention to the nation’s often excessive sentencing laws, which finds nonviolent and violent offenders alike caught in the prison-industrial complex, including juvenile offenders deprived of any hope of release no matter whether they are rehabilitated or not.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Theatres: BEST OF ENEMIES
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 31: BEST OF ENEMIES
Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon’s revisitation of a notorious battle of the minds debuted at Sundance this year. It has traveled extensively since, screening at Nantucket, BAMcinemaFest, AFI Docs, Outfest, San Francisco, SXSW, Hot Docs, Full Frame, Srasota, Miami, and IFF Boston, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Special Screening: RACING EXTINCTION
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Friday, July 31: RACING EXTINCTION
Louie Psihoyos’ rousing environmental call to action had its world premiere at Sundance at the beginning of the year. It has since screened at Nantucket, Telluride Mountainfilm, DC’s Environmental fest, Seattle, Maui, SF Green, and Boulder, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Melbourne 2015: Documentary Overview
Founded in 1952, the Melbourne International Film Festival is among the longest-running film events in the world, championing Australian cinema while also showcasing the best international work on the fest circuit. The 2015 edition opens today, Thursday, July 30 and runs through Sunday, August 16, and presents approximately 80 new and retrospective feature length documentaries as part of its impressive line-up. A selection of world premieres, regional filmmaking, and less familiar titles are noted below. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: LISTEN TO ME MARLON
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 29: LISTEN TO ME MARLON
Stevan Riley’s stunning posthumously constructed autobiography of the screen legend made its bow at Sundance this year. It went on to screen at Nantucket, San Francisco, New Directors/New Films, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Sydney, Seattle, Provincetown, and Ashland, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Sound + Vision 2015 Overview
The third edition of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual music documentary series, Sound + Vision, opens tonight, Wednesday, July 29, with Brendan Toller’s appreciation of a seminal behind-the-scenes figure in American punk music, DANNY SAYS (pictured). The event continues through Wednesday, August 7, presenting more than twenty additional recent and retrospective nonfiction features, including a tribute to the work of Julien Temple.
Among the newer offerings are Micha Hollenbach and Johann Rashid’s SUNSHINE SOUP, an experimental companion to a noted electronica album; NC Heikin’s SOUND OF REDEMPTION: THE FRANK MORGAN STORY (pictured), about a sax legend’s rise, fall, and rise; a work-in-progress screening of Paul Rachman’s LOST ROCKERS, about a number of musicians whose careers didn’t take off as expected; and Wayne Price’s HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS REVISITED, a spiritual sequel to James Szalapski’s 1976 portrait of Outlaw Country musicians, which will also be screened during the series.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
