Coming to Showtime tomorrow, Thursday, September 4: I AM DIVINE
Jeffrey Schwarz’s tribute to John Waters’ larger-than-life muse debuted at SXSW last year. It went on to screen at New Orleans’ Film-O-Rama, Cleveland, Nashville, Sheffield, Sydney, Provincetown, Inside Out, Frameline, and Outfest, among other events.
I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Los Angeles theatres this Friday, September 5: LEVITATED MASS
Doug Pray’s chronicle of the creation of Michael Heizer’s sculpture made its debut at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Florida, Cleveland, Napa Valley, Martha’s Vineyard, and Sebastopol Doc, among others.
I wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Last year, renowned contemporary artist Michael Heizer saw the realization of a project first conceived in 1968 – the suspension of an enormous boulder above a walkway. This new film by Doug Pray (ART & COPY, SCRATCH, SURFWISE) captures the logistical hurdles and sheer spectacle of the 340-ton granite rock’s eleven-day road trip from a quarry across 105 miles, through 22 cities, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for its installation. Along the way, curious, bemused, and even angry onlookers reflect on the nature of art in society.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Thursday, September 4: GRINGO TRAILS
Pegi Vail’s exploration of the unintended impact of tourism made its debut at last year’s Margaret Mead Film Festival. It went on to Washington DC’s Environmental Film Festival, Sebastopol Doc, Yale Environmental, Göttingen Ethnographic, Documentary Edge, and Galway, among others.
An exploration of how we tell stories about the places we visit, and of the consequences of that storytelling, Vail’s thoughtful film reveals the footprint of tourism on formerly exotic, remote destinations in Bolivia, Thailand, Mali, and Bhutan. Framing the film is the story of Israeli Yossi Ghinsberg, whose book on surviving alone in the Bolivian Amazon opened up the region to generations of tourists seeking to recapture his experience, as a result transforming the community’s way of life to accommodate them. Vail explores similar unintended developments, as other travelers reveal how formerly pristine hidden gems, known to a select few outsiders, became quickly co-opted and overrun. The tale of Thailand’s Haad Rin beach, a paradise that initially drew a motley group of bohemians but eventually became the site of massive beach parties, serves as the central cautionary tale, while the Kingdom of Bhutan demonstrates an opposite extreme, limiting tourism to high-end travelers in an effort to prevent unwanted cultural encroachment. Along the way, travel writers and ordinary tourist share compelling stories of the delicate balance of sharing their experiences of must-see places while preserving what makes them so special.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, September 5: LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM
Rory Kennedy’s moving revisitation of the US withdrawal from Saigon bowed at Sundance this January. It went on to screen at Nantucket, Sarasota, deadCENTER, Los Angeles, Martha’s Vineyard, and Ashland, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 2: UNDER THE ELECTRIC SKY
Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz’s look at a massive electronic music festival had its world premiere at Sundance this year. The film has been released in theatres on demand around the country as well as on VOD.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema as part of the Doc Watchers series this Thursday, September 4: OUT IN THE NIGHT
blair dorosh-walther’s exploration of injustice faced by a group of African-American lesbians debuted at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It went on to screen at Human Rights Watch, Frameline, and Outfest, with upcoming screenings at New Orleans, Oakland Underground, and LGBT fests in Chicago, Atlanta, and Austin, among others.
I previously profiled the film as dorosh-walther was finishing a successful Kickstarter campaign to complete the story of the “New Jersey 4,” a subset of New Jersey lesbians who became involved in a violent altercation in NYC’s West Village stemming from homophobia, yet found themselves railroaded by the media and the justice system despite clear evidence of self-defense. The filmmaker elicits compelling interviews from the young women and their families, creating a richer sense of their distinct personalities and character, serving as a counterbalance to their sensationalized portrayal as a “gang” that instigated the violence. Covering a lot of ground in a probably too-condensed running time – the incident, the media’s portrayal, the women’s version, portraits of the women and their families, and their fates within the justice system – dorosh-walther nevertheless succeeds in enraging the viewer by laying bare the confluence of racism, sexism, and homophobia that confronted these women and others like them on a regular basis, and which came to a head that night in August 2006. Cogently confronting complex questions of innocence and guilt, the film serves as a provocative indictment of and challenge to tacit, institutionalized inequalities that permit only some to resist maltreatment but insist that others simply acquiesce.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
For many in the film industry, the Fall season begins as filmmakers, buyers, sales agents, and programmers converge on the Toronto International Film Festival and sample its nearly 400 offerings. That begins this Thursday, September 4, as the 39th edition of the fest opens. Approximately 35 documentary or hybrid features will screen out of more than 280 feature presentations, while the two-day Doc Conference returns for a sixth year. What follows are highlights of the docs I’m planning to check out while in attendance: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to Lifetime Movie Network tonight, Monday, September 1: LOST FOR LIFE
Joshua Rofé’s portrait of youth facing life behind bars premiered at AFI Docs last year. Further festival screenings included Nantucket, Annapolis, and Middleburg.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 2: CITIZEN KOCH
Carl Deal and Tia Lessin’s exploration of corporate interests on democracy debuted at Sundance last year. Other festival engagements have included DOC NYC, Full Frame, Sarasota, Traverse City, Wisconsin, Big Sky, and Citizen Jane, among others.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Beginning today, Friday, August 29, and running through Monday, September 1, the 41st edition of the Telluride Film Festival offering attendees their first look at what are typically among the upcoming Awards season contenders, many of them heading to Toronto next week, and to the New York Film Festival at the end of next month. Continuing the festival’s tradition of surprise and anticipation, the line-up for this year’s edition was not announced until yesterday, with a full list and descriptions available through their program guide. Below, I present a brief rundown of some of the nonfiction selections this year, by my count numbering 19 feature documentaries. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
