Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 4: REPORTERO

Bernardo Ruiz’s indepth look at intrepid investigative journalism in Mexico made its debut at Ambulante in 2012. It went on to screen at Full Frame, IDFA, Los Angeles, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations Association fests, among others.

Against a backdrop of narco-trafficking fueled violence, Mexico has seen a coordinated silencing of the press via intimidation and even assassination. Despite the danger, journalists like Sergio Haro remain committed to exposing the truth beyond organized crime and the corrupt politicians they have bought. Ruiz follows Haro in his investigations, even as the riveting film tells the larger history of the publication he writes for, Zeta, a Tijuana-based weekly that is published across the border to escape potential censorship, and which has seen its unfortunate share of tragedy. The work that Haro and Zeta as a whole risk their safety doing serves as a powerful example of the necessity of a free press to expose and prevent horrific abuses of power.

Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, March 4: THE IRAN JOB

Till Schauder’s look at an American basketball player on an Iranian team debuted at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. Its fest circuit included Vancouver, New Orleans, San Diego, Philadelphia, Denver, and Documentary Edge before a limited theatrical release and VOD release last year.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.

Coming to theatres today, Thursday, February 27: AS THE PALACES BURN

Don Argott’s band profile-turned-courtroom drama made its world premiere earlier this month at Philadelphia’s Trocadero Theatre. SpectiCast releases the doc worldwide for a series of largely one-night-only events tomorrow.

Originally commissioned to profile the popular metal band Lamb of God and their fans as they toured around the world, Don Argott found himself having to switch gears unexpectedly when lead singer Randy Blythe is arrested halfway through the tour upon arriving in Prague. At the band’s last concert in the Czech Republic, two years ago, a young fan died after sustaining injuries trying to stage dive, and Blythe is being held responsible, though the authorities made no effort to contact him or the band in the intervening two years. Despite posting bail, Blythe is not released from prison, and faces up to a decade in prison if found guilty, a situation which inspires Lamb of God’s legion of fans, and fellow celebrity musicians, to petition for his return to the States. In a case of being in the right place at the right time, Argott is able to use Blythe’s unfortunate predicament to craft a much more intriguing film than the one he set out to make, but one still informed by the footage he’d already shot highlighting the band’s impact on their admirers, as, at the center of the courtroom drama that develops is the spectre of one of those fans, the young man who lost his life. Interesting in its exploration of an initially Kafka-esque foreign justice system, and successful in making the viewer root for Blythe, the circumstances of the change in focus make it difficult for Argott to really individuate the band members or to more fully develop Blythe, beyond establishing that the once out-of-control singer has been clean and sober for some time. Still, it remains an intriguing enough stranger than fiction story that is able to resonate beyond the band’s core fanbase.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, February 25: ITALY: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT

Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi’s personal chronicle of their ambivalence around their home debuted at Milano in 2011. It went on to screen at Zurich, Thessaloniki Doc, Reykjavik, Docpoint, Goteborg, SXSW, Full Frame, Hot Docs, Seattle, Antenna, and DOXA, among others. FilmBuff now releases the film across multiple platforms.

I previously included the doc in my Thessaloniki coverage here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, February 25: DISCO AND ATOMIC WAR

Jaak Kilmi’s deadpan look at Western TV’s influence on life under Communism made its debut in Warsaw in 2009, picking up the best documentary award. It went on to screen at Telluride, Hot Docs, Seattle, and Los Angeles, among other fests, before a limited theatrical release.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.