Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres and virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, August 13:
SEARCHING FOR MR RUGOFF

Director:
Ira Deutchman

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019

Select Festivals:
Palm Springs, Cleveland, Wisconsin, Galway, Mill Valley

About:
A look back at the outsized personality behind legendary art house distributor Cinema 5.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Ira Deutchman reveals the untold story of the creative genius behind 1960s-’70s film distribution company Cinema 5. Filmmakers, critics, collaborators, and family members paint a vivid portrait of Donald Rugoff, a volatile, self-destructive, and fearless champion of independent and art films. Drawing from a rich archive and colorful interviews, veteran distributor, producer, and former Rugoff employee Deutchman brings us closer to his legendary and controversial mentor, who took risks and fought for great cinema while facing personal battles of his own.

Coming to Ovid.tv tomorrow, Friday, August 13:
STOP

Director:
Spencer Wolff

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2014

About:
A young man takes on the NYPD’s policy of racial profiling.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, August 13:
NOT GOING QUIETLY

Director:
Nicholas Bruckman

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
SXSW, Oxford, Cleveland, Annapolis, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish

About:
When a young father chances to meet a powerful senator on an airplane, their exchange goes viral, sparking one of the most unlikely political movements in a generation.

Coming to Ovid.tv today, Wednesday, August 11:
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING

Director:
Mila Turajlic

World Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Double Exposure, DocPoint, ZagrebDox, Thessaloniki Doc, Tempo Doc, One World, Göteborg, Vilnius, Hong Kong, Doc10, Cleveland, San Francisco, Vision du Reel, DOK.fest Munich, Docs Against Gravity, Seattle, Docaviv, Doc Edge, Sydney, Dokufest, Melbourne

About:
The filmmaker explores her remarkable mother and Serbia’s tumultuous political inheritance.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, August 7:
NOT GOING QUIETLY

Director:
Nicholas Bruckman

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
SXSW, Oxford, Cleveland, Annapolis, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish

About:
When a young father chances to meet a powerful senator on an airplane, their exchange goes viral, sparking one of the most unlikely political movements in a generation.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 6:
THE VIEWING BOOTH

Director:
Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

World Premiere:
Docaviv 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Berlin, True/False, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, Dokufest Kosovo, London Open City, Camden, Cork, Jihlava, Boston Jewish, Ann Arbor

About:
The audience observes a young woman as she views and tries to rationalize films that challenge her worldview.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
How open are we to changing our beliefs? Acclaimed filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz explores this question through a cinematic experiment. He asks Maia, a Jewish-American student and ardent supporter of Israel, to view footage of life in the occupied West Bank, some from official Israeli government sources and others from the progressive human rights organization B’Tselem. As Maia attempts to reconcile these images with her worldview—and, months later, to parse these reactions—what emerges is a fascinating and timely study of cognitive dissonance and the strength of entrenched belief systems.

Coming to theatres and virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, August 6:
WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED

Director:
Mariam Ghani

World Premiere:
Berlin 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sheffield, San Francisco, Kerala, Nashville, Rhode Island, Heartland, Hot Springs Doc, Philadelphia Asian American, St Louis, WatchDocs, San Diego Asian American, Cinema Verite, Goteborg, DocPoint Talinn, Ann Arbor

About:
A meditation on incomplete films made in Afghanistan during periods of instability between 1978-1992.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In this artfully constructed project, a set of unfinished films commissioned by the state during communist-era Afghanistan revisits a nation that only existed in celluloid. Recovered reels, accompanied by the reflections of filmmakers, actors, and critics, reveal genre films whose stories of love, war, and history offer great insight into the heartbeat of a film industry that tried to persevere from one coup to another, and under the ever-watchful eye of government censors.