Category Archives: Recommendations

Premiering on HBO tomorrow, Wednesday, November 30: PINK SARIS

Acclaimed doc maker Kim Longinotto premiered this inspirational portrait of Indian women rights activist Sampat Pal at Toronto last year. It went on to win awards at Sheffield, Abu Dhabi, CPH:DOX, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.

I included the film in my Toronto roundup last year here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29: SONS OF PERDITION

Jennilyn Merten and Tyler Measom’s doc on exiled Latter Day Saints fundamentalists made its world premiere at Tribeca, screened at a number of notable fests, an had a limited theatrical release. It was also part of Oprah’s Documentary Club, premiering on OWN back in June.

I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release here.

Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 29: CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS

Werner Herzog brought his 3-D doc on the Chauvet caves to Telluride and Toronto last year. After numerous additional festival engagements, Sundance Selects released the film in the Spring to overwhelming audience support.

I wrote about the doc out of Toronto here.

Premiering on HBO this Wednesday, November 23: THE SOUND OF MUMBAI: A MUSICAL

Sarah McCarthy premiered this enjoyable and smartly realized portrait of performing slum kids at Toronto last year. It has since screened at notable fests like Miami and DOC NYC.

I included the film in my Toronto roundup last year here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 18: GARBO: THE SPY

Edmon Roch’s engaging examination of the career of a WWII double agent has screened at Rome, IDFA, San Francisco, and Karlovy Vary among others since its debut in 2009. The film opens in NYC this weekend, expanding to LA next week, with further engagements in December and January.

The figure at the center of Roch’s film, Juan Pujol Garcia, was dubbed “Garbo” by British intelligence in recognition of his remarkable acting abilities. The Nazis knew him as “Arabel,” and, unbeknownst to them, several other names – Pujol Garcia invented a whole network of imaginary operatives to fool his German handlers, even going so far as to plant an obituary notice for one of them as part of a larger ruse. Though he was turned away repeatedly by MI5, when he revealed the extent of his deception of the Germans, he was welcomed as a double agent, and was put to use feeding the Nazis always plausible misinformation that ended up helping the Allies. Roch peels away at the layers of Garbo’s identities, revealing the little-known story of perhaps one of the most important spies of the era, instrumental in keeping the Axis in the dark about the impact of D-Day. Adding to the intrigue, the film, through historian Nigel West, reveals the additional twists and turns Pujol Garcia’s life took after the war, resulting in further surprising revelations that fit perfectly within the scope of the cipher’s life, who the viewer may still feel s/he doesn’t really know by the end of the film.

Coming to theatres this Friday, November 18: IN HEAVEN, UNDERGROUND: THE WEISSENSEE JEWISH CEMETERY

Britta Wauer’s portrait of a Jewish cemetery in Berlin premiered at the Berlinale this year, where it picked up the Panorama Audience Award. It has also screened at the Jerusalem and Hamptons film festivals, as well as Hot Docs and Jewish film fests around the world. It now opens for a week-long theatrical in NYC’s Cinema Village.

I previously wrote about the film out of the Hamptons here.