Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction screening series as its season opener tonight, Tuesday, September 24: LINSANITY
Evan Jackson Leong’s portrait of the basketball player debuted at Sundance earlier this year. It went on to screen at SXSW, Hawaii, Hong Kong, NY’s Asian American, LA Asian Pacific, and Pacific Rim, among others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Note: A Q&A will follow the screening with Leong and producer Brian Yang.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24: CALL ME KUCHU
Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s revealing look homophobia in Uganda had its world premiere in Berlin last year. Its fest circuit has included berths at Hot Docs, Silverdocs, Frameline, Sheffield, Los Angeles, Reykjavik, Side by Side, CPH:DOX, and New Orleans, among others, and it enjoyed a limited theatrical release this Summer.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Hot Docs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24: DEAR MOM, LOVE CHER
P David Ebersole’s intimate portrait of Georgia Holt made its debut on Lifetime and Australia’s Bio Channel this past May for Mother’s Day. It now comes to VOD worldwide.
For Holt’s 85th birthday, her daughter Cher filmed a video celebrating her mother’s life. Inspired by this, the superstar turned to Ebersole and partner Todd Hughes to expand its scope and develop it into a standalone doc for Lifetime. The remarkably vibrant Holt, flanked by her daughters, Cher and Georganne LaPiere, candidly reveals stories both sobering and humorous, from her penniless origins as the daughter of a 13-year-old mother in rural Arkansas to her spotty track record of seven marriages. While Cher understandably takes some of the spotlight, the film explores the three women’s public careers – Holt and Georganne both had bit parts on several TV shows – and culminates in the story of Holt’s would-be singing career. More than thirty years ago, basking in the unlikely interest of being a vivacious sixtysomething celebrity mom with a young lover, Holt appeared on TV talk shows and seemed poised to have her own big break as a singer, finally realizing an old dream that started when she was a child earning pennies for her father by singing during the Great Depression. Though she recorded a country album with Elvis’ former band, her refusal of the record label’s unfair deal meant it went unreleased. Discovering tapes from those recording sessions, remastering them, and joining her on one track, Cher helped Holt release the album this year. Ebersole’s charming doc captures this, as well as the genuine affection Holt’s family has for her.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, September 23: BEST KEPT SECRET
Samantha Buck’s portrait of a teacher of special needs students debuted at the Independent Film Festival Boston earlier this year. It went on to screen at Montclair and AFI Docs before a limited theatrical release earlier this month.
I included the doc in my AFI Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24: ROOM 237
Rodney Ascher’s fascinating look at outré fan theories about THE SHINING had its world premiere at Sundance last year. Its festival circuit has been extensive, including Cannes, New York, Toronto, Fantastic Fest, and Chicago, among others, and it has enjoyed a theatrical and VOD release.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to HBO this coming Monday, September 23: FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED
Alan Berliner’s unflinching exploration of the damage wrought by Alzheimer’s debuted last year at the New York Film Festival. Its festival circuit has included IDFA, where it picked up the fest’s top award, Los Angeles, Punto de Vista, San Francisco Jewish, and Edinburgh, among others.
I included the film in my NYFF coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to WORLD Channel’s Global Voices series this Sunday, September 22: RENT A FAMILY INC
Kaspar Astrup Schröder’s portrait of a put-upon family man and his business debuted at CPH:DOX last year. Other fest stops included IDFA, One World, It’s All True, Hot Docs, DOXA, San Francisco, and Antenna.
I previously wrote about the film out of Hot Docs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 20: LETTERS TO JACKIE: REMEMBERING PRESIDENT KENNEDY
Bill Couturié’s affecting look back at the impact of JFK’s death made its debut at AFI Docs this Summer. It went on to screen at Sedona and Woods Hole, among other events.
I included the doc in my AFI Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Israel’s Haifa International Film Festival kicks off its 29th edition tonight, September 19, and runs through next Saturday, September 28. Historically the first film festival in the country, it annually takes place during the Sukkot holiday, introducing audiences to more than a hundred new and retrospective features and shorts, including a large slate of Israeli productions. Approximately forty of these are new documentary features, primarily appearing in the four sections noted below.
Docs make up nearly half of the Israeli Film Competition, including several which commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War: Amos Gitai’s KIPPUR WAR MEMORIES, which features material the director filmed during the war, when he was part of a helicopter crew that was shot down; Yoel Sharon’s ONE BATTLE TOO MANY (pictured), an animated doc about the final day of conflict, when the director was wounded; Nurit Kedar’s three-part CATCH 73, about the influence on Israel of the generation of those who fought in the war; and the first episode of Amit Goren’s four-part THE AVOIDABLE WAR. Two selections explore the African immigrant experience in Israel: Yotam Kaminsky and Mor Carmel’s NIGERIAN BAR MITZVAH, about a boy’s desire to fit in with his Israeli friends; and Itamar Chen’s NIGHT SHIFT, exploring an Ethiopian enclave tin Rehovot through the eyes of its beat cop. Among the other docs screening here are Judith Kahana’s GARDEN OF EDEN, a look at a home for young women rejected by their ultra-Orthodox families; and Dani Wasserman’s DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE?, the story of a matchmaker with muscular dystrophy.
Moving outside of locally made work, the fest spotlights nonfiction from around the world in International Documentaries. Selections here include: Roberto Minervini’s STOP THE POUNDING HEART (pictured), a hybrid portrait of a young religious woman who slowly questions her beliefs after meeting a young bullrider; Lyubov Arkus’ ANTON’S RIGHT HERE, which follows an autistic teenager for several years; Esther Hoffenberg’s VIOLETTE LEDUC, IN PURSUIT OF LOVE, about the contemporary of Simone de Beauvoir who never shied away from controversial topics in her novels; and Shane Salerno’s SALINGER, about the reclusive author of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.
Haifa Classics, like Cannes’ similar section, combines retrospective fiction with new documentaries about filmmakers and film. Included in the latter category are six titles, including James Toback’s SEDUCED AND ABANDONED (pictured), following the director and Alec Baldwin as the pitch their new project at Cannes; and Gérald Morin’s ON FELLINI’S FOOTSTEPS, a portrait of the director’s mentor. Finally, Haifa presents CinemArt, a program largely consisting of art docs, curated by critic David D’Arcy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
NYC’s Urbanworld Film Festival launches tonight, Wednesday, September 18, screening two dozen features and more than thirty shorts through this Sunday, September 22. Focused on spotlighting the work of African American and multicultural filmmakers, the festival celebrates its 17th edition this year.
Among its lineup are nine documentary features. Screening as a Spotlight is Nelson George’s FINDING THE FUNK, a loving survey of the music genre that bridged soul and hip hop. Music is also at the core of Reuben Atlas’ BROTHERS HYPNOTIC, about the brass band made up of jazz legend Phil Cochran’s sons; Kerri Gawryn’s A LOVELY DAY (pictured), following Oakland youth as they work to express themselves through hip hop; and Manauvaskar Kublall’s AMERICAN BEATBOXER, a chronicle of the first-ever American Beatbox Championship in Brooklyn.
A different championship is at stake in Crystal McCrary’s LITTLE BALLERS, which follows four eleven-year-olds as they set out to win the Amateur Athletic Union’s National Basketball competition. Youth and sports figure in Daphne Schmon’s CHILDREN OF THE WIND (pictured), the story of Caribbean windsurfers; while kids and their education is the subject of Jyllian Gunther’s THE NEW PUBLIC. On the lighter side, Tamarat Makonnen’s IN SEARCH OF THE BLACK KNIGHT wonders where all the eligible black men are. Finally, Yoruba Richen’s THE NEW BLACK takes on the complex issue of the African-American community’s response to gay marriage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
