Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres and VOD this Friday, April 18: THE FINAL MEMBER

Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math’s playful look at the world’s only penis museum made its debut at Hot Docs in 2012. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Seattle, Silverdocs, Fantastic Fest, Denver, and Florida, among others.

I included the doc in my Hot Docs coverage here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15: JOURNEY TO PLANET X

Myles Kane and Josh Koury’s look at a pair of amateur sci-fi filmmakers had its world premiere at Tribeca in 2012. It went on to screen at Denver, Traverse City, Sitges, Camden, Cucalorus, and Chicago Underground, among others. FilmBuff now brings the film to iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Movies on Demand, and other VOD platforms.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, April 14: THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI

Bill Siegel’s exploration of Ali’s conscientious objection from serving in Vietnam made its debut at Tribeca last year. Its fest circuit included Seattle, Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Melbourne, and Montclair, among many others, before a limited theatrical and later VOD release.

I included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, April 11: A FRAGILE TRUST: PLAGIARISM, POWER, AND JAYSON BLAIR AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

Samantha Grant’s indepth examination of the notorious newspaper scandal made its debut at Sheffield last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, the Hamptons, Hawaii, Denver, Big Sky, Thessaloniki, Atlanta, Sebastopol Doc, and Cleveland, among others.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program saying:
In 2003, it was revealed that New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was a plagiarist, regularly cobbling together his articles from others found on the Internet or otherwise fabricating facts. This precipitated the lowest point in the Grey Lady’s history, leading to an editorial regime change, resignations, and a review of hiring practices. Samantha Grant goes straight to the source, securing interviews with Blair and his former colleagues to reveal the complex interplay of power, race, ambition and competition at the heart of the story.

Coming to theatres this Friday, April 11: DANCING IN JAFFA

Hilla Medalia’s look at the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through pre-teen ballroom dance made its debut at Tribeca last year. It went on to screen at DocAviv, Sydney, Munich, and Jewish fests in Miami, Boston, London, Palm Beach, Calgary, San Francisco, DC, and elsewhere.

I previously included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 8: BAYOU BLUE

Alix Lambert and David McMahon’s serial killer investigation debuted at IDFA in 2011. It went on to screen at New Orleans, BFI London, and Poland’s American film fest, among others.

Between 1997 and 2006, Ronald Dominique raped and murdered more than twenty men in Louisiana. Most of his victims were African American, gay, and poor, marginalized men who rarely commanded the attention of either law enforcement or the media – unless they themselves were breaking the law – enabling Dominique to continue his killing spree. Exacerbating this bias was the chaos that ensued due to Hurricane Katrina, straining already overtaxed resources in the state. Lambert and McMahon return with local police to the scenes of Dominique’s crimes to reconstruct the case, interview family members about the victims, and question how and why issues of race, regionalism, homophobia, and class prevented what seems to have had the sensationalistic potential to captivate a national audience – possibly enabling Dominique’s apprehension far earlier – from being more than a small, local concern.