Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 3: MIRAGE MEN

John Lundberg’s exploration of government disinformation policies had its world premiere last year at Sheffield. It went on to screen at Seattle, Fantastic Fest, Canberra, DOXA, Stockholm, and Sebastopol Doc.

Lundberg’s intriguing film posits that the US military has been the source of much of the would-be evidence and labyrinthine theories behind UFO conspiracies for the past several decades, part of an elaborate campaign of targeted disinformation to discredit those who might chance upon classified, covert projects. Particularly compelling among its cast of talking heads – representing close encounter witnesses, UFOlogists, authors, and the like – is former US Air Force counterintelligence officer Richard Doty, who is forthright in revealing his part in a systematic program of false information that led a WWII veteran to lose his mind. In itself a perfect addition to the countless conspiracy theories around extraterrestrial visitations that have sprung up since the Cold War and its inculcation of paranoia and fears of invasion, there’s enough here to suggest that what the doc proposes is true while still casting just enough doubt to leave the viewer still wondering.

Coming to PBS’s Global Voices series on the World Channel this Sunay, June 1: MISS NIKKI AND THE TIGER GIRLS

Juliet Lamont’s look at the development of an all-girl music group under a military regime had its world premiere at IDFA in 2012. It went on to screen at Margaret Mead, One World, Sydney, Melbourne, and Planete+ Doc, among other fests.

I previously wrote about the doc out of IDFA here.

Coming to DVD and VOD this coming Tuesday, June 3: TINY: A STORY ABOUT LIVING SMALL

Merete Mueller and Christopher Smith’s personal look at compact living debuted at SXSW last year. IOther stops on the fest circuit included DOC NYC, Hot Docs, IFF Boston, Mountainfilm, Tallgrass, and Hot Springs, among others.

I previously wrote about the film out of Hot Docs here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, May 30: BEFORE YOU KNOW IT

PJ Raval’s affecting portrait of gays growing older debuted at SXSW last year. Its fest circuit has included IFF Boston, San Francisco, Edinburgh, Lone Star, Cucalorus, Cleveland, Florida, and several LGBT fests, including Inside Out, Outfest, Image Out, Reeling, Image + Nation, and Polari.

Noting the particular challenges often faced by LGBT seniors – which can include isolation, a return to the closet within homophobic nursing home facilities, and lack of access to relevant social and health services – Raval set out to share the stories of three elders. Dennis came out only after he became a widower, but not to his family, feeling comfortable expressing his true self only in the controlled environments of an LGBT retirement home or on a gay cruise; Ty is an advocate for LGBT seniors, and faces a big decision when New York State legalizes gay marriage; and Robert, the owner of a gay bar, faces health problems that exacerbate his financial and legal struggles to keep his business open. Sometimes bittersweet, their experiences speak to a certain generation of gay men who grew up in a far less open and accepting society, but also to a more universal reckoning with age, health, mortality, and regret – factors that we all too often try to ignore or avoid.