Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 18:
RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT
Director:
Mariem Pérez Riera
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta, Sarasota, Tribeca, Provincetown
About:
A profile of the pioneering, EGOT-winning star of stage and screen.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Netflix today, Tuesday, June 15:
FTA
Director:
Francine Parker
World Premiere:
Theatrical release (July 1972)
About:
A chronicle of the controversial anti-Vietnam War political vaudeville tour of American military bases, fronted by Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, May 15:
US KIDS
Director:
Kim A Snyder
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, Doc Edge, Mountainfilm, Full Frame, Miami, Martha’s Vineyard, NewportFilm, Calgary, GlobeDocs, Bergen, Hamptons, Mill Valley
About:
The young survivors of the Parkland school shooting are followed over a transformative year and a half.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Tuesday, May 15:
REVOLUTION RENT
Director:
Andy Señor Jr, Victor Patrick Alvarez
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019
Select Festivals:
Miami, Key West
About:
A Cuban American reconnects with his roots as he attempts to stage RENT on Cuba.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Theater director Andy is invited to bring the musical RENT to Cuba, his exiled parents’ homeland. Embarking on a personal journey to reclaim his complicated heritage, and to bridge cultural boundaries with Jonathan Larson’s inspiring musical, Andy is faced with the daunting task of opening the show just 12 weeks from first rehearsals. Will he be able to hone the raw young local talent he’s cast, contend with technical challenges and address RENT‘s controversial themes in Cuban society?
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 45th Frameline
Dates:
June 10-27
About:
The oldest LGBTQ film festival in the world presents just under 50 new features and episodics in a hybrid format, including approximately 20 works of nonfiction.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
New to DVD this week:
HOT HOUSE
Director:
Shimon Dotan
World Premiere:
Jerusalem 2006
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Human Rights Watch, Watch Docs
About:
A look at how Israeli prisons have encouraged the development of the next generation of Palestinian leaders as well as future terrorist threats.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Festival:
The 20th Tribeca Festival
Dates:
June 9-20
About:
Approximately 100 features and episodic content – about half of that nonfiction – screens in a hybrid format in this anniversary year for the curiously renamed NYC event, which has dropped “film” from its title.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 8:
AMERICAN OZ
Director:
Randall MacLowry, Tracy Heather Strain
World Premiere:
American Experience (April 2021)
About:
A portrait of L Frank Baum, best known for his popular series of children’s books that began with THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 4:
THE ANCIENT WOODS
Director:
Mindaugas Survila
World Premiere:
IDFA 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Sydney, Vilnius, DocPoint, CPH:DOX, Docs Against Gravity, BelDocs, Docaviv, MakeDox, New Zealand, Camden, Bergen, DocsBarcelona, Washington DC Environmental
About:
A wordless immersion into the biodiversity of the Baltic forests.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Through immersive cinematography and exquisite sound design, one of Europe’s last remaining old-growth forests comes alive in a poetic documentary about the quotidian rituals, survival, and non-anthropocentric harmony of the varied inhabitants of a Lithuanian woodland. Biologist-turned-filmmaker Mindaugas Survila spent a decade making this extraordinary project, patiently infusing its panoply of nonhuman characters with drama, humor, and transcendence.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Rooftop Films tonight, Thursday, June 3 and to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 4:
ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE
Director:
Theo Anthony
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Jeonju, True/False, New Directors/New Films
About:
An interrogation of the idea of objectivity through the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing, and justice.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
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