Celebrating its 15th edition this year, the Sarasota Film Festival begins this Friday, April 5 and runs through Sunday, April 14. Screening over 200 films, Sarasota is one of the largest regional festivals in the US, presenting some of the year’s standout films for Florida audiences and visiting industry. I’ve never been to the festival, but industry colleagues who have attended have raved, and its Director, Tom Hall, is one of the most liked figures in the indie film community. Its feature lineup includes more than fifty documentaries, including two Sundance alums in key Gala slots – Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s BLACKFISH screens as the fest’s Closing Night film, while Barbara’s Kopple’s RUNNING FROM CRAZY is one of two Centerpieces. Other newer docs that perhaps haven’t had as big a spotlight yet include the following: Continue reading
Category Archives: Recommendations
Sarasota Film Festival 2013: Documentary Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Dallas International Film Festival 2013: Documentary Overview
Starting tomorrow, Thursday, April 4, and running through Sunday, April 14, the Dallas International Film Festival will screen more than 175 films for its seventh edition. Kicking things off are five Opening Night films, including Sundance alum THE CRASH REEL. I had the pleasure of serving on the jury for the festival a couple of years back, enjoying Texan hospitality and a top-notch festival thanks to the efforts of Artistic Director James Faust and Senior Programmer Sarah Harris. While I won’t be attending the 2013 fest, I wanted to draw attention to some of the newer documentaries making their debut in Dallas, among a selection of acclaimed titles that previously screened at Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto. Continue reading
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On DVD: UNFINISHED SPACES
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 2: UNFINISHED SPACES
Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray premiered their doc on an unfinished socialist utopian Cuban architecture project at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival. Its extensive fest circuit included Camden, Denver, Havana, Palm Springs, Cinequest, Miami, Sebastopol Doc, Full Frame, Buenos Aires, and New Orleans’ filmOrama. The doc also participated in DocuWeeks, Sundance Film Forward, and screened at Stranger Than Fiction.
I previously wrote about the film during its run via DocuWeeks here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
It’s All True 2013 Overview
One of South America’s signature non-fiction events, Brazil’s It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, kicks off its 18th edition this Thursday, April 4 and runs through Sunday, April 14 in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The event then goes on tour, presenting films in Brasilia (April 16-21) and Campinas (April 23-28), all for free. Featuring more than eighty films from over twenty-five countries, the festival includes competitions for international and Brazilian features and shorts, an overview of recent international work, special sidebars, and two retrospectives – one on seminal Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov and the other on 1980s’ Brazilian documentarian Silvio Tendler. Continue reading
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Full Frame 2013 Overview
The 16th edition of Durham NC’s acclaimed non-fiction showcase, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, opens this Thursday, April 4, with Dawn Porter’s Sundance award-winning GIDEON’S ARMY, and continues through Sunday, April 6, presenting nearly a hundred programs of new and retrospective films, as well as panels and other events. Among the special series this year are a tribute to filmmaker Jessica Yu, which includes screenings of her past notable work, as well as the world premiere of her new short about sustainability in Mozambique, THE GUIDE; and “Stories About Stories,” a thematic sidebar of films exploring truth and storytelling in documentaries, including classics like Orson Welles’ F FOR FAKE, Amir Bar-Lev’s MY KID COULD PAINT THAT, and even Larry Charles’ BORAT, as well as Sarah Polley’s recent STORIES WE TELL.
Director of Programming Sadie Tillery and her team have curated a typically impressive lineup of recent non-fiction titles, many which I’ve covered out of other festivals like Toronto, IDFA, Sundance, and SXSW over the past several months. Beyond these films, Full Frame is presenting several docs which are making their debuts here, which I’ll spotlight below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD: HITLER’S CHILDREN
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 2: HITLER’S CHILDREN
Chanoch Ze’evi’s exploration of the personal legacy of Nazism had its debut at IDFA in 2011. It went on to screen at DOK Munich, One World, Documentary Edge, Tallgrass, and Thessaloniki Doc, among others, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release last Winter.
I wrote about the film out of last year’s Thessaloniki Doc fest here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2013 in Brief, Part Three
This post wraps up my coverage of this year’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – previous postings may be found here (a pointer to my Indiewire coverage of several Greek titles and works-in-progress) and here (highlights from three fest sections). Below are thoughts on a number of the remaining sections, “Recordings of Memory,” “Habitat,” and “Human Rights.” Continue reading
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On TV: KIND HEARTED WOMAN
Coming to PBS via Frontline and Independent Lens this coming Monday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 2: KIND HEARTED WOMAN
David Sutherland’s indepth portrait of a divorced Oglala Sioux single mother makes its debut as a special two-part co-presentation by two of PBS’s signature series.
Clocking in at about five hours, Sutherland’s film follows Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old woman from North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation, over three years, and is named after the English translation of her Sioux name. The survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her foster father, siblings, and “uncles,” and, more recently, violence at the hands of boyfriends, Robin has struggled with alcoholism and depression. A messy divorce from her abusive husband has added further stress, but Robin shows determination to better her life, and that of her two children. As the film begins, she has spent some time in rehab and enrolls in college to better provide for her family, escape the pitfalls of poverty and addiction, and help other Native women who have had similar experiences. Due to complications regarding a lengthy and ongoing child custody case against her ex and his influential family, Robin’s education plans suffer a setback – merely one instance of the ups and downs she experiences during this epic, yet still refreshingly ordinary, film, from new jobs and a new relationship to painful revelations about further abuse in her family. Charboneau is eminently watchable, a woman who may not always know what the answers are to her problems, and may make mistakes, but is open to learning from them. The doc is heartfelt but tough, emotional but never maudlin, and filmed with a gritty authenticity that captures the realities of a woman, and family, at risk. It’s an immersive experience, down to the at times awkwardly too-close sound design, which captures its subjects frequent grunts and throat-clearings – a verite portrait that often approximates more of an indie narrative drama than a standard public television doc. That said, while engrossing for the better part of its extended running time, Sutherland’s pacing is not always quite right – there’s a frequent sense of repetition, which, while arguably echoing the seemingly neverending trials Robin must contend with, has a cumulative wearying effect on the viewer, suggesting the film could be tightened up at least a bit.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
In the Works: 2013 Wallabout Film Festival
For the past few years, the undergraduate course I teach at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute culminates in the Wallabout Film Festival, a one-day event that is completely organized by my students – from programming to party planning and everything in between. This year’s Wallabout, the 5th anniversary edition, will take place at indieScreen on Thursday, April 18, showcasing student short films from Pratt and around the world.
Earlier this week, my students launched a crowdfunding campaign on a new platform, Crowdtilt, to raise much-needed funds for Wallabout. With less than a month to go, they (and I) would welcome any contributions, and would appreciate it if w(n)td readers spread the word about the campaign via social media or email to anyone who might be interested in supporting student filmmakers and film festivals. And, of course, if readers are in Brooklyn on April 18, consider coming to Wallabout!
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, In the Works, Recommendations
Cleveland International Film Festival 2013: Documentary Overview
One of the country’s best-regarded regional film events, the Cleveland International Film Festival, opens next Wednesday, April 3 and runs through Sunday, April 14. I’ve only attended CIFF once, and was impressed by the dedication of its audience, who eschew parties to cram as many films as possible into their schedules. Showing remarkable audience growth over the past several years, this year’s edition, its 37th, has expanded its programming selections, offering nearly 180 feature length and more than 160 short films. Included among these are more than 70 feature length docs, appearing in various sidebars – from the LGBT-oriented “10% Cinema” to the femme focused “Women of the World” – and part of a number of competitions, highlighted below: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
