Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to VOD via Crackle tomorrow, Thursday, March 18:
AFTER THE MURDER OF ALBERT LIMA

Director:
Aengus James

World Premiere:
Woodstock 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Phoenix

About:
A man hires bounty hunters to bring his father’s killer to justice.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Paul Lima has spent over a decade seeking justice for his slain father, Albert. Though convicted, Albert’s murderer has remained free in Honduras. Frustrated with the failings of the legal system, Paul takes the unorthodox—and highly dangerous—step of hiring two bounty hunters to track down the killer and finally make him pay. This riveting and at times darkly comedic thriller explores both the importance of family and the myriad dangers of taking the law into your own hands.

Coming to VOD via Amazon Prime Video today, Tuesday, March 16:
BUSTER WILLIAMS BASS TO INFINITY

Director:
Adam Kahan

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019

Select Festivals:
Pan African, Mid-Atlantic Jazz, PDX Jazz, Montreal Black

About:
A profile of the renowned jazz bassist.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Jazz bassist Buster Williams’ storied career includes playing with past greats Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker, and Nancy Wilson, amongst others. Spend some time with Williams and his present-day collaborators—icons Benny Golson, Herbie Hancock, Rufus Reid, Christian McBride, Carmen Lundy, Kenny Barron, and more—as they jam, tell tales, and create beautiful music. Adam Kahan’s portrait is a toe-tapping film celebrating the soul and magic of jazz.

Coming to The WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16:
BUSY INSIDE

Director:
Olga Lvoff

World Premiere:
Moscow 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, BFI Flare, Hamptons Doc, Middlebury

About:
An inside look at a misunderstood psychological condition.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Karen Marshall is a respected therapist who specializes in the treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder, a condition formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, often linked to a history of childhood abuse. Karen has a unique perspective on the disorder, as she juggles 17 personalities of her own. Director Olga Lvoff sensitively explores the intricacies of DID and the methods surrounding its treatment as Karen helps her client, Marshay, confront past trauma and embrace the different parts of her selves.

Coming to Hulu today, Friday, March 12:
KID 90

Director:
Soleil Moon Frye

World Premiere:
Hulu (March 2021)

About:
A personal archive reveals the realities of growing up as a child actor in the 1990s.

Soleil Moon Frye became a household name for kids of a certain age when she was cast as the lead of the sitcom PUNKY BREWSTER in 1984. Like other child actors, she grew up in public, and, like many actresses, began to be viewed primarily as a sex object after she hit puberty. Frye’s response – she documented everything. In an age before the ubiquity of self-documentation and social media, Frye picked up a home video camera, saved phone messages, and kept diaries, in the process capturing a raw and intimate sense of what it was like for her – and her many fellow young actors – to grow up as celebrities. For this project, Frye revisits this footage after two decades in an attempt to determine if her memories match the reality, sharing it with friends and relationships from those days. While her philosophical musings are never quite as profound as they might be intended to be, there’s still poignancy to the project that goes beyond 1990s nostalgia, particularly when Frye touches on friends she lost to suicide, such as Jonathan Brandis; when she reflects on how Hollywood’s objectification led to her decision to have breast reduction surgery as a teen; and when she realizes how she rewrote history to soften the impact of a sexual assault. This and more helps the viewer overlook the more clunky elements of the doc to appreciate the rawness and vulnerability that lies beneath.