The second half of the 2015 Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition sees the world premiere of Jerry Rothwell’s Day One film HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, from the UK/Canada, an exploration of the origins of Greenpeace. Continue reading
Category Archives: Recommendations
2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres & Special Screenings: FAREWELL HERR SCHWARZ
Coming to theatres this Friday, January 9 and also screening as part of the JCC in Manhattan’s CineMatters series this weekend: FAREWELL HERR SCHWARZ
Yael Reuveny’s investigation into her great-uncle’s disappearance during the Holocaust debuted at Haifa in 2013, where it won the Best Israeli Documentary. Other fest berths included DOK Leipzig, Cottbus, and at the Miami, Toronto, and Palm Beach Jewish fests, among others.
Reuveny is part of Israel’s third generation, the grandchild of Holocaust survivor Michla Schwarz, whose stories of survival and loss the filmmaker grew up listening to. Michla – who believed herself to be her family’s sole survivor after her beloved brother Feiv’ke failed to make a pre-arranged meeting at a train station in Lodz, Poland – moved to Israel, raised a family, and cursed Germany for the rest of her unhappy life. Reuveny recognizes that her own decision to move to Germany would not have been met with approval by Michla – as it is, her mother, Etty, Michla’s daughter, isn’t particularly happy about it either – but Reuveny was drawn there because of the fate of Michla’s family. Shortly before her grandmother’s death, Yael learns that Feiv’ke survived the concentration camps, but surprisingly elected to stay in the same small German town where he had been imprisoned, changed his name to Peter, and married a German woman. Reuveny sets out to understand why – and why Feiv’ke never showed up in Lodz or ever contacted Michla – and in the process explores the impact of Michla and Feiv’ke’s splintering on three generations of their families. While personal quests can more often than not feel incredibly self-indulgent, in this case Reuveny successfully broadens the questions raised by the decisions of her great-uncle and his offspring – not to mention her own – into a thoughtful consideration of modern Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust.
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2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: DREAMCATCHER
We come to the end of the first half of this year’s World Cinema Documentary Competition with DREAMCATCHER, UK director Kim Longinotto’s candid portrait of a woman’s redemptive fight against sexual exploitation. Continue reading
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2015 Cinema Eye Honors Winners
The 8th annual Cinema Eye Honors, recognizing achievements in non-fiction film from 2014, took place last night in a ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image. Earlier in the week, the organization hosted its inaugural Honors Lunch, which celebrated this year’s Legacy Award winner, PARIS IS BURNING; as well as “The Influentials,” 24 additional classic nonfiction films which were singled out; “The Unforgettables,” a list if notable documentary subjects from 2014’s films; and BOYHOOD as the winner of the Heterodox Award, which annually goes to a fiction film that incorporates nonfiction strategies.
Here is the full list of winners announced at last night’s notably streamlined ceremony, which was hosted by Sam Green, with appearances by Cinema Eye founders AJ Schnack and Esther Robinson, documentary legends Al Maysles and DA Pennebaker, THE CRUISE’s Speed Levitch, PARIS IS BURNING‘s director Jennie Livingston and editor Jonathan Oppenheim, and, in a fun coup, the pre-recorded voice of SERIAL’s Sarah Koenig as the Voice of God introducing video montages of each set of nominees. I was honored to serve as one of the members of the Nominations Committee. Congratulations to all the nominees and to all the winners!
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
CITIZENFOUR (pictured above)
Audience Choice Prize
KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Laura Poitras for CITIZENFOUR
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Mathilde Bonnefoy for CITIZENFOUR
Outstanding Achievement in Production
Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky for CITIZENFOUR
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
tie:
Erik Wilson for 20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
and
Franklin Dow and Orlando von Einsiedel for VIRUNGA
Outstanding Nonfiction Film for Television
THE PRICE OF GOLD by Nanette Burnstein for ESPN’s 30 for 30
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
Charlie Siskel and John Maloof for FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
Outstanding Achievement in an Original Music Score
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for 20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
tie:
Syd Garon for JODOROWSKY’S DUNE
and
Heather Brantman and Tim Fisher for PARTICLE FEVER
Spotlight Award
1971
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS by Lucy Walker
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: DARK HORSE
The UK is the setting for the next entry in the World Cinema Documentary Competition: DARK HORSE, Louise Osmond’s tale of an improbable racing dream. Continue reading
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2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: CHUCK NORRIS VS COMMUNISM
The World Cinema Documentary Competition heads to Romania next with UK/Romanian/German co-production CHUCK NORRIS VS COMMUNISM, Ilinca Calugareanu’s look at the secret role the VCR played in the fall of the Iron Curtain. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE CHINESE MAYOR
China is the next country represented in the World Cinema Documentary Competition with THE CHINESE MAYOR, Hao Zhou’s inside look at a local official’s radical plan to bring prosperity to his city. Continue reading
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2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: CENSORED VOICES
The second title in this year’s World Cinema Documentary Competition finishes up today’s Sundance profiles: From Israel/Germany, CENSORED VOICES, Mor Loushy’s unearthing of candid reflections on war by Israeli soldiers in 1967. Continue reading
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2015 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE AMINA PROFILE
Next up is the 2015 World Cinema Documentary Competition, which begins with Canada’s THE AMINA PROFILE, Sophie Deraspe’s unraveling of the strange case of a Syrian woman’s disappearance. Continue reading
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On DVD/VOD: A WILL FOR THE WOODS
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, January 6: A WILL FOR THE WOODS
Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, and Brian Wilson’s sensitive exploration of green burial premiered at Full Frame in 2013. Other fest engagements included DOC NYC, New Orleans, AFI Docs, Sidewalk, DocuWest, Camden, Big Sky, Cleveland, Sebastopol Doc, and Atlanta, among others.
I previously wrote about the film out of AFI Docs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
