Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 13: INFORMANT

Jamie Meltzer’s portrait of the controversial Brandon Darby debuted at San Francisco last year. It went on to screen at New Orleans, IDFA, Open City, Cleveland, Florida, Big Sky, Thin Line, Denver, Woodstock, Austin, Sebastopol Doc, and DOC NYC, picking up awards at the latter three.

I previously wrote about the doc out of DOC NYC here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, September 10: THE REVISIONARIES

Scott Thurman’s disturbing look at culture wars played out via textbooks made its debut at Tribeca last year. Its fest circuit has included Hot Docs, Silverdocs, Denver, One World, IFF Boston, Dallas, Seattle, and Hot Springs, among others. It now comes to iTunes, XBOX, and PlayStation via FilmBuff.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 10: RADIO UNNAMEABLE

Paul Lovelace and Jessica Wolfson’s profile of NYC airwave fixture Bob Fass made its world premiere last year at Full Frame. It went on to screen at BAMcinemaFest, Silverdocs, Sarasota, Sound Unseen, Leeds, and Big Sky, among others. The doc also had a limited theatrical release at Film Forum and elsewhere.

I included the film in my Silverdocs coverage here.

Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, September 9 and to DVD on Tuesday, September 10: PING PONG

Hugh Hartford’s look at senior table tennis champs had its world premiere at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at Sheffield, DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Vancouver, and Miami, among others, and came to theatres this past May.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 6: WE THE PARENTS

James Takata’s chronicle of the possibilities of parent power in education made its debut in limited theatrical release in Los Angeles last month. It now expands to NYC, with filmmakers using Tugg to set up potential screenings around the country based on demand.

In January 2010, California became the first state to pass a parent trigger law – essentially, a means by which parents can hold their school district to task for an underperforming school by closing the school, demanding a new administration, or converting it to a charter school. Takata’s film focuses on the efforts of the first group of parents who tried to invoke the law in California’s Compton school district by gathering petitions from more than half of their school’s parents, backed by Parent Revolution, the organization which fought for the parent trigger law in the first place, and which was eager to see it utilized. Not surprisingly, the Compton school district challenges the petition, necessitating a legal battle. While Takata’s film is fairly conventional in approach, and, clocking in at just about an hour, can’t hope to be comprehensive, it is decidedly successful in poignantly capturing the importance of this battle for several of the participants. The primarily Latino and African American parents profiled view the trigger law, and their involvement in Parent Revolution, as perhaps the first time they’ve felt empowered – as one mother notes, in handing the petition over the school district, she felt like she was on the same level as the administrators. That alone makes Takata’s film worth seeking out by parents, community organizers, and teachers alike.