Coming to select theatres this Friday, December 25:
THE DISSIDENT
Director:
Bryan Fogel
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Zurich, Aspen, Savannah, Stockholm
About:
An investigation of the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 22:
YOU CANNOT KILL DAVID ARQUETTE
Directors:
David Darg and Price James
World Premiere:
SXSW 2020
Select Festivals:
Fantasia
About:
Actor David Arquette seeks redemption in the wrestling ring.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Disney+ today, Friday, December 18:
ON POINTE
Director:
Larissa Bills
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2020
About:
A series capturing a season in New York City’s School of American Ballet.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Ballet lovers of all ages won’t want to miss this six-part Disney+ docuseries. Filmmaker Larissa Bills captures a season in New York City at the School of American Ballet, following students ages 8 to 18 as they try to realize their dreams of a career in dance. For many, that starts with performing in George Balanchine’s THE NUTCRACKER onstage at Lincoln Center. Filmed before the pandemic, the series is an emotional reminder of New York as a hub of young talent.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, December 18:
MUSEUM TOWN
Director:
Jennifer Trainer
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Sarasota, Berkshire, Provincetown, Aspen, Woodstock, GlobeDocs, Hamptons
About:
An institutional history and portrait of a contemporary arts center.
MASS MoCA is a contemporary arts center located in North Adams MA, a small blue collar town that was, since 1860, a one-industry town until the 1980s, when the local factory shut down, resulting in an economic downturn and depression that saw the population dwindle, with few opportunities. Numerous ideas were put forward for economic development using the old factory buildings, but ultimately the unlikely concept of a contemporary arts center was hatched, using the scale of the site to enable the showcasing of land art and other non-normative work that doesn’t easily fit within the confines of a traditional museum. Jennifer Trainer, a longtime part of MASS MoCA’s staff, interweaves the long road to getting state and local government funding for the museum with an overview of its past exhibitions and performance presentations, alongside the present project of mounting an ambitious project by artist Nick Cave. A constant refrain is how much or how little the institution has properly integrated with North Adams – many residents have no interest in or understanding of contemporary art – and the slowness of the economic development that was expected – but neither of these are particularly well-developed. While to some extent aiming for an institutional profile in the Wiseman school, the project instead ends up feeling too promotional and insider, with far too much time devoted to elements that simply don’t merit the attention, and short shrift paid to aspects that are more interesting, such as the challenges of the space.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Friday, December 18:
NASRIN
Director:
Jeff Kaufman
World Premiere:
GlobeDocs 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Global Health, Human Rights Film Festival Berlin
About:
A portrait of human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Nasrin Sotoudeh never stood down from a tough battle as a human rights attorney in Iran. Fans of filmmaker Jafar Panahi will remember her appearance in his subversive film TAXI. In Jeff Kaufman’s film, she’s serving a prison sentence of 38 years for representing women who protested the country’s mandatory hijab law. This immersive portrait weaves extensive filming with Sotoudeh along with interviews with Panahi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and journalist Ann Curry. Even while she’s behind bars, Nasrin won’t let her voice be silenced.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER
Director:
Taylor Morden
World Premiere:
BendFilm 2020
Select Festivals:
SF DocFest
About:
A nostalgic look at the rise and fall of Blockbuster Video.
Founded in the mid-1980s and quickly expanding to dominate the video rental business through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Blockbuster Video once boasted of over 9000 retail stores. As signaled by the title of Taylor Morden’s film, the company’s fortunes changed, with the last outlet located in Bend OR, run by the pleasant and unassuming Sandi Harding, a surrogate mom to the parade of local teenagers who have worked for her. Morden attempts to profile Harding and her struggles to keep her store afloat despite competition from Netflix and other VOD services, while also recounting the history of the company and how it fell from grace. Unfortunately, despite its nostalgic appeal, the overall result feels imbalanced and padded, with far too many anecdotes from celebrity interview subjects and the like, suggesting that the project might have worked better as a short film.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD/VOD this week:
WHITE RIOT
Director:
Rubika Shah
World Premiere:
London 2019
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, Edinburgh, Indielisboa, Krakow, Belgrade, Glasgow
About:
An in-depth look back at 1970s UK protest movement Rock Against Racism.
In the mid-1970s, the UK saw the rise of the National Front, a fascist political party fueled by xenophobia and racism and embraced by disenfranchised young white people eager for an identity. But overt racism was not just in the wheelhouse of NF’s skinheads, as Conservative MP Enoch Powell had spent years speaking out against immigrants, attracting admirers such as Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart. In response, an agitprop theatre performer, Red Saunders, wrote an op-ed for Britain’s rock publications calling for musicians and their fans to take a stand against racism. Rubika Shah’s chronicle of Rock Against Racism’s activism is appropriately scrappy and energetic, borrowing its DIY aesthetic from the group’s zine-focused communications, and serves as a welcome reminder of the collective power of people to organize for positive change.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Wednesday, December 16:
THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER
Director:
Paul Taylor
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
Double Exposure
About:
An investigation into the murder of Guatemalan human rights advocate Bishop Juan Gerardi.
During Guatemala’s long civil war, the indigenous Mayan population was subject to a campaign of genocide, and civilians suffered atrocities and murder. In the aftermath of the conflict, Roman Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi, a longtime supporter of the Mayan people and an outspoken human rights activist, prepared a report on the role of the Guatemalan military in civilian deaths during the war. Two days after the report’s publication, Gerardi was found beaten to death at the Church of San Sebastián. Paul Taylor’s film explores his assassination, the role the government played in its attempted cover-up, and the quest for justice, not only for Gerardi, but for those he sought to defend. While the project would have benefited from providing more historical background for the uninitiated, and should have dispensed with its overly sensationalistic re-enactments, it still makes for compelling viewing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to ESPN and ESPN+ today, Tuesday, December 15:
THE INFINITE RACE
Director:
Bernardo Ruiz
World Premiere:
Full Frame 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
DocsMX, DocLands, SF DocFest
About:
A Mexican ultramarathon serves as a backdrop for a consideration of indigenous cultural appropriation.
The cultural practice of the indigenous Rarámuri of Chihuahua – also known as the Tarahumara through Spanish pidginization – has long included endurance running. In 2003, an American athlete organized the first edition of the Ultra Maratón Caballo Blanco, a 50-mile ultramarathon, as a way to honor the Rarámuri, promote crosscultural understanding and running for health, and provide Rarámuri participants with food vouchers to help feed their families. The Rarámuri and the ultramarathon came to international prominence following the publication of Christopher McDougall’s book, BORN TO RUN, a bestseller that encouraged runners to travel to the host site of Urique. Bernardo Ruiz explores the history of the race, but digs beneath the surface to provide the perspectives not only of the organizers, but of several of the Rarámuri themselves, in the process expertly revealing the complex intersection of culture, economics, philanthropy, appropriation, and exploitation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15:
WE ARE NOT PRINCESSES
Director:
Bridgette Auger, Itab Azzam
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Vancouver, IFF Boston, SF DocFest, St Louis
About:
In a Lebanese refugee camp, Syrian women participate in a theater workshop.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
This refreshing film offers a unique peek into the private lives of women who have survived unspeakable sorrow, yet blossom through the healing power of art. During a theater workshop in a Lebanese refugee camp, four Syrian women discover they have a lot in common with the ancient Greek heroine, Antigone, and experience freedoms forbidden in their homeland. Told with humor and heart, Bridgette Auger and Itab Azzam’s film elicits intimacy and honesty from its unlikely group of thespians.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
