Category Archives: Recommendations

New to DVD this week:
LAURA INGALLS WILDER: PRAIRIE TO PAGE

Director:
Mary McDonagh Murphy

World Premiere:
PBS broadcast (Dec 2020)

About:
An exploration of the life and writing of the popular children’s book author.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to MTV today, Tuesday, February 16:
EACH AND EVERY DAY

Director:
Alexandra Shiva

World Premiere:
MTV broadcast (February 2021)

About:
Nine young people share their experiences of suicide and depression.

With suicide rates increasing among young people – and only exacerbated by the social isolation and other pressures caused by the pandemic – filmmaker Alexandra Shiva shines a spotlight on the issue by going directly to the source: Nine young people who have struggled with depression and suicidal ideation. Shiva has assembled a group of articulate and candidly vulnerable participants, and has given them a platform to address issues both universal and specific to their backgrounds with compelling results. For example, cultural backgrounds factor into the stories of a young Indian woman, a Black man, and a Latinx man, as they relate how mental health issues are often not discussed openly or are stigmatized in their communities; while trans and lesbian subjects reflect the disproportionate rates of suicide within the LGBTQ community. Structured as a series of vignettes that profiles each of the nine participants individually, the film also brings them all together intermittently via a group Zoom chat. While all of us are likely well past the point of Zoom fatigue, these moments are actually quite important, showing the commonality and community between the disparate subjects, and reminding the viewer of the additional challenges this past year has brought to us all.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, February 16:
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.

New to DVD this week:
MADAME

Director:
Stéphane Riethauser

World Premiere:
Visions du Reel 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Locarno, Thessaloniki Doc, Documentamadrid, Pink Apple, Kerala, Golden Horse, Image+Nation

About:
A personal meditation on the relationship between the gay filmmaker and his grandmother.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
From a young age, filmmaker Stéphane Riethauser was groomed to become the golden heir to his family’s business—an alpha male who would fulfill their patriarchal expectations. His best friend and confidante was his grandmother Caroline, a self-made independent woman ahead of her time. After playing the part for several years, Stéphane matures into his true self and embraces LGBTQ activism. But will glamorous, old-fashioned Caroline understand? Riethauser’s film is an honest and edgy confrontation with things long left unsaid in a family’s past.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 9:
INSTANT DREAMS

Director:
Willem Baptist

Premiere:
IDFA 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Thessaloniki Doc, Sofia, Docs Against Gravity, Jihlava, Slamdance, SF DocFest, Visions du Reel, IndieStreet

About:
Fans of Polaroid are determined not to let its magic vanish.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 8:
WOMEN IN BLUE

Director:
Deirdre Fishel

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Minneapolis/St Paul, AFI Docs, Salem, Atlantic, Vancouver, Hot Springs Doc, Denver, St Louis, Rocky Mountain Women’s, African Diaspora

About:
Female officers from the Minneapolis Police Department provide an inside look at a troubled institution.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
When Janeé Harteau becomes Minneapolis’s first female police chief, she sets out to change a troubled department by addressing racially biased policing, increasing transparency, recruiting more women into the force, and championing leadership roles for female officers. But all of her reforms are threatened by an officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed woman. Filming both before and after George Floyd’s murder, Deirdre Fishel follows four female officers as they navigate the changing department, offering a compelling inside look at the complex intersection of gender, race, and the limits of reform within an ethically questionable institution.