Festival:
The 27th Slamdance Film Festival
Dates:
February 12-25
About:
Presented online – and a few weeks later than its usual concurrence with Sundance – this ever-scrappy event presents 25 features, with docs making up just over half that number, including the highlights below.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject shortlists today. In addition, two documentary features are included on the International Feature Film shortlist. Congratulations to all the filmmakers – especially the Sundance, DOC NYC, and Nantucket Film Festival alumni represented.
The official lists are below, with links to my previous coverage, where applicable. The final nominees will be announced on March 15.
Documentary Feature:
Documentary Short Subject:
Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa
Call Center Blues
Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
Hysterical Girl
A Love Song for Latasha
The Speed Cubers
What Would Sophia Loren Do?
International Feature Film:
Denmark, ANOTHER ROUND
Hong Kong, BETTER DAYS
Czech Republic, CHARLATAN
Romania, COLLECTIVE
Russia, DEAR COMRADES
Mexico, I’M NO LONGER HERE
Norway, HOPE
Guatemala, LA LLORONA
Chile, THE MOLE AGENT
Ivory Coast, NIGHT OF THE KINGS
Bosnia and Herzegovina, QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Iran, SUN CHILDREN
France, TWO OF US
Taiwan, A SUN
Tunisia, THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to YouTube tomorrow, Saturday, February 6:
LIFE IN A DAY 2020
Director:
Kevin Macdonald
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
About:
A crowdsourced look at life around the world on a single day during the pandemic.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to select theatres and to VOD today, Friday, February 5:
A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX
Director:
Rodney Ascher
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
About:
A trip down the rabbit hole of simulation theory.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD and VOD this Friday, February 5:
THE GO-GO’S
Director:
Alison Ellwood
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Sheffield
About:
A look back at the history of the 1980s pop phenomenon band.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
The winners of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival were announced at an awards ceremony last night, which may be viewed in full here. A list of the feature awards follows:
US Documentary Competition Awards:
World Cinema Documentary Competition Awards:
US Dramatic Competition Awards:
World Cinema Dramatic Competition Awards:
NEXT Awards:
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to OVID.tv tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3:
TAHRIR: LIBERATION SQUARE
Director:
Stefano Savona
World Premiere:
Locarno 2011
Select Festivals:
New York, Santa Barbara, Docpoint, Dubai, DocLisboa, DOXA
About:
An immersion into the Egyptian uprising.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
