Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 30:
PRAY AWAY

Director:
Kristine Stolakis

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
Telluride, Hot Docs, Florida, Doc10, AFI Docs

About:
A powerful exposé on gay conversion programs, revealing the damage inflicted by shame and repression through intimate testimonies from current members and former leaders of the pray the gay away movement.

Coming to theatres and to VOD tomorrow, Friday, July 30:
ENEMIES OF THE STATE

Director:
Sonia Kennebeck

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, CPH:DOX, Calgary, Glasgow

About:
Everything is not as it seems for an American family that flees to Canada to protect their hacker son from US government persecution.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Director Sonia Kennebeck investigates the strange case of Anonymous hacktivist Matt DeHart and his claims of persecution by the US government. He and his parents fled the US seeking asylum in Canada after law enforcement brought charges against him for child pornography. DeHart counters that he’s being framed, targeted for his support of Wikileaks, and that he was tortured in a US prison. Unfolding like an espionage mystery, the film follows a multiyear quest for truth, with unexpected twists and turns until the very end.

New to DVD this week:
KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

Director:
Malia Scharf, Max Basch

World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Revelation, Provincetown, Montclair, Atlantic

About:
A portrait of artist Kenny Scharf, whose work fuses popular culture and fine art.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, July 26:
MAYOR

Director:
David Osit

World Premiere:
True/False 2020

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, CPH:DOX, IDFA, Hot Docs, Full Frame, Camden, Maryland, DokuFest

About:
A portrait of the Christian mayor of Ramallah, Palestine.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, July 19:
STATELESS

Director:
Michèle Stephenson

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, BlackStar, Hot Docs, AFI Latin American, Portland, Halifax Black, Boston Latino, RIDM, Trinidad and Tobago

About:
After the Dominican Republic strips the citizenship of residents of Haitian descent, a determined attorney fights to protect the rights of these now stateless people.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
The stunning island of Hispaniola is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, countries with a complicated history and tense relations. In 2013, the DR’s Supreme Court retroactively stripped the citizenship of residents of Haitian descent, leaving more than 200,000 people stateless, subject to immediate deportation, and devastating loss. In the midst of staggering intolerance, attorney Rosa Iris fights to protect the rights of these disenfranchised people while leading a grassroots campaign for a better future. 

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 16:
NO ORDINARY MAN

Director:
Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt

World Premiere:
Toronto 2020

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Inside Out, Calgary, Translations, Vancouver, RIDM, Atlantic, NewFest, Sofia, Sydney Mardi Gras, BFI Flare, Salem, Cleveland

About:
The legacy of musician Billy Tipton is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
For decades, the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the sensationalistic story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. Now that history gets re-interrogated by trans artists as they try to reimagine Tipton’s life through acts of performance, reclaiming him as a trans icon. Filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt join Tipton’s adopted son to reckon with Tipton’s complicated and contested legacy.

Coming to theatres and virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, July 16:
CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS

Director:
Rosalynde LeBlanc, Tom Hurwitz

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2020

Select Festivals:
Frameline, Vancouver, Milwaukee, SF Dance, Outshine Miami

About:
The story behind Bill T Jones and Arnie Zane’s titular performance piece on the devastation of AIDS.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Beginning in 1980s New York City, this film chronicles the love story between dancers Bill T Jones and Arnie Zane, the diverse dance company they founded, and the painful devastation of AIDS on the arts community, as told through the company’s signature performance piece D-Man in the Waters. Following a millennial dance troupe’s efforts to re-interpret the piece for their generation, directors Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz offer an engrossing examination of dance, love, and loss—and the power of art to move through pain.