Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series this coming Tuesday, February 24: A WILL FOR THE WOODS

Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, and Brian Wilson’s look at the intersection of environmentalism and the mortuary industry made its debut at Full Frame in 2013. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, New Orleans, AFI Docs, Sidewalk, Camden, Big Sky, Cleveland, and Atlanta, among other events.

I included the film in my AFI Docs coverage here.

Coming to HBO this coming Monday, February 23: CITIZENFOUR

Laura Poitras’ chronicle of how Edward Snowden revealed his knowledge to the world made its bow at the New York Film Festival last Fall. It went on to screen at London, DOC NYC, DOK Leipzig, CPH:DOX, IDFA, and Goteborg, in addition to its theatrical release. The film has been nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, with the winner announced this Sunday, February 22.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its release

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, February 23: AMERICAN DENIAL

Llewellyn Smith’s exploration of the US’s historical and current problems with race makes its debut on the Emmy Award-winning public television series. It is also being shown at community screenings around the country.

Smith’s wide-ranging profile on American attitudes to race centers on the work of Swedish social scientist Gunnar Myrdal, who was commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation to conduct an impartial, outsider’s study on race relations in 1938. Visiting the Deep South, then fully under Jim Crow, and adopting a curious naïveté, Myrdal elicited the true opinions of white residents on the so-called “Negro problem,” which he essentially recouched as white prejudice. The researcher ultimately released his findings in a landmark book, AN AMERICAN DILEMMA: THE NEGRO PROBLEM AND MODERN DEMOCRACY, which identified a provocative cognitive dissonance between what he referred to as the “American Creed” – the democratic principle of equality and opportunity that shapes the nation’s identity – and a deep-seated white prejudice which seeks to limit the political, social, and economic status of non-whites. Smith threads Myrdal’s story through the film, while also applying its conclusions to later studies – such as psychological tests that reveal lingering, unconscious bias against blacks in both white and black subjects – and in present-day systems of power, most notably the cumulative effect of racial profiling and mass incarceration on generations of black men’s sense of self and self-worth. The film tackles a bit too much for its hour running time – for example, unnecessarily delving into Myrdal’s personal issues with his research partner and wife, even given their tangential, thematic parallels to his research – and intermittently employs an irksome series of staged still re-enactments, but is better served by its use of creative illustrations and footage of psychological experiments with young African-American children. Belying wishful thinking that American society has reached a colorblind, post-racial state, the thought-provoking film instead challenges viewers to acknowledge the powerful role denial plays in the disjunction between our principles and our actions, in both our individual and systemic approaches to race.

Coming to Brooklyn’s Made in NY Media Center via IFP’s Screen Forward program this Friday, February 20: APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT

Amanda Rose Wilder’s in-depth look at a year of alternative education made its debut at True/False last year. Other festival appearances included Nantucket, New Orleans, Sarasota, Maryland, BAMcinemaFest, Camden, CPH:DOX, RIDM, and Rotterdam.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Seeking an alternative to America’s troubled educational system, Alex, an idealistic young teacher, opens a small free school in Little Falls NJ where all classes are optional and determined by student interest, and the only rules that exist are democratically decided upon by both the teachers and the students. Director Amanda Rose Wilder immerses the viewer in this radical and fascinating experiment, chronicling the school’s tumultuous inaugural year. While wonderfully individuated children adapt to unprecedented freedom and must take responsibility for their own learning, Alex and his staff also must contend with the inevitable strong personalities that test the limits of their open community.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, February 17: POINT AND SHOOT

Marshall Curry’s look at a thrillseeker turned unlikely freedom fighter premiered at Tribeca last year, where it won the Best Documentary Award. Further festival play included Hot Docs, Maryland, AFI Docs, IFF Boston, Nashville, Traverse City, New Zealand, and Melbourne. In addition to DVD release, the film now becomes available on iTunes.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16: TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY

Cullen Hoback’s examination of the disappearance of online privacy debuted at Slamdance in 2013. Its fest circuit also included Hot Docs, Dallas, Newport Beach, SF DocFest, and Seattle, among several others.

I previously included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.