
Coming to MUBI this Sunday, July 11:
ON THE STARTING LINE
Director:
Aldemar Matias
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
Rio, Uruguay, It’s All True, Montevideo
About:
A young Cuban athlete and her mother struggle with an uncertain future.

Coming to MUBI this Sunday, July 11:
ON THE STARTING LINE
Director:
Aldemar Matias
World Premiere:
Berlin 2019
Select Festivals:
Rio, Uruguay, It’s All True, Montevideo
About:
A young Cuban athlete and her mother struggle with an uncertain future.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Coming to Film Forum today, Friday, July 9:
THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT
Director:
Julien Faraut
World Premiere:
Rotterdam 2021
Select Festivals:
Documentary Fortnight, Jeonju, Midnight Sun
About:
United by their jobs in a textile factory, a Japanese women’s volleyball team chases absolute perfection—and finds international superstardom—representing postwar Japan on the 1964 Olympic stage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 9:
THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52
Director:
Joshua Zeman
World Premiere:
Nantucket 2021
Select Festivals:
Boulder
About:
In this fascinating story about isolation and interconnection, the filmmaker and a team of intrepid scientists set out on a wild quest to find the 52 Hertz Whale, which has spent its entire life calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

Coming to Rooftop Films tomorrow, Friday, July 9:
TAMING THE GARDEN
Director:
Salomé Jashi
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, New Directors/New Films, Shanghai, Cinéma du Réel
About:
An artful look at the unusual disruption caused by the removal and transport of several massive trees from small Georgian villages.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 7:
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Director:
Judd Ehrlich
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
About:
A deep dive into American gun culture and the increasing force of political influence played by the NRA to challenge gun control legislation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Coming to VOD via Film Movement+ this Friday, July 9:
OVER THE LIMIT
Director:
Marta Prus
Premiere:
IDFA 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Moscow Doc, Visions du Reél, DOK.fest Munich, DocsBarcelona, Zagreb Dox, Krakow, Docpoint, Göteborg, Thessaloniki Doc, One World, Ambulante
About:
A brutally candid look at a rhythmic gymnast’s Olympic training.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

Coming to virtual cinemas via Projectr Movie Club tomorrow, Thursday, July 8:
THE METAMORPHOSIS OF BIRDS
Director:
Catarina Vasconcelos
World Premiere:
Berlin 2020
Select Festivals:
True/False, Cartegena, Vilnius, Thessaloniki Doc, Jeonju, DokuFest, Beijing, Melbourne, Indielisboa, Beldocs, San Sebastian, Vancouver, Camden, Vienna, Jihlava, RIDM, Sheffield DocFest, IDFA, New Directors/New Films, DocPoint
About:
A highly unorthodox, impressionistic, and emotionally rich generational saga which finds the Portuguese filmmaker sifting through the memories and dreams of her ancestors.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 6:
PICTURE A SCIENTIST
Director:
Sharon Shattuck, Ian Cheney
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
Athena, InScience, Science on Screen
About:
An exploration of systemic discrimination and bias against women and especially women of color in STEM fields.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 6:
STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET
Director:
Marilyn Agrelo
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, San Francisco
About:
A look back at the origins of the pioneering children’s television powerhouse.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, July 5:
THE NEUTRAL GROUND
Director:
CJ Hunt
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs
About:
Comedian and satirist CJ Hunt asks difficult questions about this country’s Confederate monuments, hoping to discover some clarity by diving into history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases