Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Wednesday, April 27:
THE MYSTERY OF MARILYN MONROE: THE UNHEARD TAPES
Director:
Emma Cooper
World Premiere:
Netflix (April 2022)
About:
An exploration of the mystery surrounding the death of the movie icon, focused on previously unheard interviews conducted with her inner circle.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 26:
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY
Director:
W Kamau Bell
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
About:
Can you separate the art from the artist? Should you even try? While there are many people about whom we could ask those questions, none poses a tougher challenge than Bill Cosby.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 26:
WRITING WITH FIRE
Director:
Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, IDFA, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, RIDM, BlackStar, Guadalajara, DocsMX, Double Exposure, Sydney, Yamagata Doc, Ambulante, Denver, San Diego Asian, Hawaii, Bergen, San Francisco, Krakow, Seattle, Thessaloniki Doc, One World, Shanghai
Notable Recognition:
The doc was nominated for the Academy Awards.
About:
A chronicle of the trailblazing work of India’s only news outlet run by Dalit women–once known as “untouchable.”
I previously wrote about the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS today, Monday, April 25:
BIG SONIA
Directors:
Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday
Premiere:
Napa Valley 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Seattle, Cleveland, Sun Valley, Big Sky Doc, Milwaukee, Durban, Jewish fests in San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Palm beach, Charlotte, Kansas City, Southampton, and Miami
About:
An intimate and at times humorous portrait of an unstoppable Holocaust survivor.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres and virtual cinema tomorrow, Friday, April 22:
THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE
Director:
Iryna Tsilyk
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Berlin, IDFA, Hot Docs, Doc Fortnight, Thessaloniki Doc, ZagrebDox, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Docudays UA, Reykjavik, Zurich, Dokufest, Adelaide, Seattle
About:
A Ukrainian family processes life in a war zone by making films about their experience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Newly re-released on DVD this week:
FROM THE JOURNALS OF JEAN SEBERG
Director:
Mark Rappaport
World Premiere:
Toronto 1995
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Karlovy Vary, Cleveland
About:
Ill-fated actress Jean Seberg – portrayed by Mary Beth Hurt – reflects on her life as illustrated through her work in this creative exploration of film history and women’s place within it.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
SYL JOHNSON: ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS
Director:
Rob Hatch-Miller
World Premiere:
Chicago 2015
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Big Sky Doc, Montclair, BlackStar, Nashville, Florida, Newport Beach, Sidewalk, Indie Memphis, Sound Unseen, Cork, Doc ‘n Roll
About:
A retired, overlooked soul singer finds new opportunities when his song is embraced by a new generation of musicians.
The film screened at DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Despite a couple of minor hits, soul singer Syl Johnson retired from the music industry in the 1980s, never quite having achieved the success for which he longed. But with the dawn of hip hop came the unexpected, widespread embrace of his 1967 song “Different Strokes” – sampled by artists as diverse as Run-DMC, Michael Jackson, the Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, A$AP Rocky, Kid Rock, En Vogue, Usher, and Kanye West, among many others – and new opportunities for the savvy performer emerged, as detailed in Rob Hatch-Miller’s lively chronicle of the ups and downs of Johnson’s career.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Pure Nonfiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19, and to CNN and CNN+ this Sunday, April 24:
NAVALNY
Director:
Daniel Roher
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Docville, Cleveland, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Sun Valley, Full Frame
About:
After Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government, he partners with journalists and international news organizations to investigate his attempted assassination and find proof of the Kremlin’s involvement.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Showtime today, Friday, April 5:
LA MADRINA: THE SAVAGE LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA
Director:
Raquel Cepeda
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2020
Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Philadelphia Latino, Hot Docs
About:
The “first lady” of the Savage Skulls reflects on the pivotal role of women in the 1970s New York City gang and her later shift to community activism.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to OVID.tv today, Thursday, April 14:
RED HOLLYWOOD
Director:
Thom Andersen, Noël Burch
World Premiere:
Locarno 1996
Select Festivals:
San Sebastian, Vancouver, Ann Arbor, Art of the Real
About:
An essay film exploring the work of studio directors who were on the Red Scare blacklist.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
