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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to The WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16:
PAHOKEE
Directors:
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, SXSW, San Francisco, DokuFest, Sarasota, Denver, Maryland, Hamptons, Visions du Reel, Miami, Encounters, Sidewalk, Montclair, Los Angeles Latino, Bentonville, IFF Boston, Ashland
About:
Four teenagers are followed through their senior year of high school in the Florida Everglades.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s American Experience today, Monday, February 15:
VOICE OF FREEDOM
Director:
Rob Rapley
World Premiere:
PBS broadcast (February 2021)
About:
The story of singer Marian Anderson and the barriers placed upon her because of racism.
While not a household name today, for decades contralto Marian Anderson was heralded throughout Europe and the US as the “Voice of the Century.” While never an outspoken civil rights activist, her 1939 open air performance in front of the Lincoln Memorial – and the long controversy that led to it – marked a pivotal moment of dawning awareness by non-Black audiences of the pervasiveness and injustice of Jim Crow laws. Filmmaker Rob Rapley bookends his profile with this legendary event, telling the Black singer’s story in between, from early promise and success against the backdrop of segregation and racism to a life-changing and career-defining span of years honing her craft throughout Europe between 1927-1935 before returning to the realities of life as a Black woman in America. Little did Anderson know when she agreed to perform a benefit concert for Howard University in 1939 that she would be at the center of a national awakening about racism. Refused the use of a venue by its owners, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the concert became a cause célèbre, spurred on by the canny efforts of Walter White at the NAACP, who used his friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to attract national attention. While the DAR embarrassingly stuck to its restrictive policies, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt allowed the concert to go on in front of the Lincoln Memorial, ultimately drawing 75000 attendees and millions via radio, and underscoring Lincoln’s pivotal connection to civil rights and freedom, something that had been shockingly downplayed if not buried in the decades since the Civil War. As with virtually all American Experience programs, Rapley’s follows its typical, workmanlike format, resulting in a somewhat muted sense of Anderson’s personality, but there’s still clear power in her story.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
THE REUNITED STATES
Director:
Ben Rekhi
World Premiere:
Woods Hole 2020
Select Festivals:
Nashville, Cinequest, United Nations Association, Milwaukee
About:
A profile of individuals attempting to bridge divides in an increasingly polarized America.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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
New to DVD this week:
BILLIE
Director:
James Erskine
World Premiere:
Telluride 2019
Select Festivals:
Palm Springs, Tempo Doc, Boulder, Deauville, Glasgow
About:
A portrait of Billie Holiday through the perspective of her would-be biographer.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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
