Category Archives: Releases

Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Monday, July 6 and tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7:
THE VOTE

Director:
Michelle Ferrari

World Premiere:
AFI Docs 2020

About:
A chronicle of American women’s fight for the right to vote.

As is noted more than once in Michelle Ferrari’s informative, if conventional, documentary, history typically tells us that American women were “given” the right to vote in 1920, but this elides the seven decades-long struggle waged by suffragists to demand this critical aspect of citizenship. Timed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, this two-day, two-part entry in PBS’s long-running American Experience series reviews the collective organizing that led to the enfranchisement of women, while putting the spotlight on key figures in the movement and the disparate paths they took to achieving their goal. Ferrari weaves in a welcome consideration of the role of black women in the suffragist movement, and how race, class, and privilege frequently came into play over the long years of the campaign, often forcing women of color into the background for political expediency. While the first half covers a larger period, including lessons learned from the British suffrage movement, the significance of the 1848 Seneca Falls women’s rights convention, and the deferment of addressing the issue on a national scale in favor of state-by-state referenda, the more compelling second half is weighted more towards the final few years of the struggle, as votes for women became intertwined with other pivotal moments in Woodrow Wilson’s presidential administration, most notably America’s relationship to World War I. Although the story of the women’s suffrage movement is less familiar to most as compared to more recent progressive struggles, the similarities between their tactics is clear, and a stark reminder that collective action can yield transformative results.

New to VOD last week:
CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Director:
Justin Pemberton

World Premiere:
Sydney 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Melbourne, New Zealand, Jerusalem, Hamburg

About:
An adaptation of the unexpected international bestselling economics book.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to Showtime beginning this Sunday, July 5:
OUTCRY

Director:
Pat Kondelis

World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (cancelled)

About:
A high school football star convicted of a horrific crime fights to prove his innocence.

In 2013, on the basis of a four-year-old boy’s accusation of sexual abuse, police in Cedar Park TX arrested Greg Kelley, an 18-year-old local high school football star. A year later, despite his steadfast claims of innocence, Kelley was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison with no hope of parole. Kelley’s friends and family – as well as a growing group of supporters – come to his defense, beginning a campaign to somehow secure his freedom, buoyed by a new defense attorney. Filmmaker Pat Kondelis follows the story over five years, and, over the course of five episodes, convincingly frames it as a miscarriage of justice that cost not only Kelley his freedom, but brought false relief to the survivors, each victims of a shoddy police investigation that sought a successful conviction rather than the facts. Though affectively enraging and gripping as a whole, the series includes some puzzling elements – what are viewers to make of a victim’s rights advocate who doesn’t appear to be connected to the case in any way, but who doggedly insists that Kelley is guilty, regardless of any exculpatory evidence? Where did die-hard Kelley advocate Jake Brydon come from, and why is he so invested in the case? What exactly caused the Texas ranger independently investigating the case to make an about face and seemingly fabricate damaging findings about Kelley? How did police chief Sean Mannix and Detective Chris Dailey survive unscathed despite the outpouring of criticism they faced? While Kelley’s story does find an ultimate ending, the larger case in which he was involved remains frustratingly unresolved on many levels, with the viewer left unsure what can or should happen next. Still, the engaging series makes clear that what happened in this case, while extreme, is not unique to Cedar Park TX, and, coming at a time of reckoning around the role of the police in America, underscores the need for serious reforms to the criminal justice system.

Coming to virtual cinemas and to VOD today, Friday, July 3:
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE

Director:
Dawn Porter

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (cancelled)

About:
A wide-ranging look at the life, activism, and political career of the esteemed civil rights icon.

John Lewis emerged as a young leader of the civil rights struggle with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s to eventually claim a congressional seat representing Georgia beginning in 1987, where he remains a vital, conscientious presence to this day. Filmmaker Dawn Porter deftly balances a retrospective appreciation for the work Lewis has done in his long career of activism with a reminder of the present-day battles he continues to wage for a just and equitable nation. Following Lewis during 2018 as he campaigns for fellow progressive Democratic candidates, the film makes crystal clear the continuity between his past and present – the insidious rise of voter suppression that Lewis struggled against decades ago. Arriving in a critical election year, the film should serve as a potent reminder of the freedoms individuals like Lewis sacrificed to secure, and of the renewed threat they face in today’s hyperpolarized political landscape.

Coming to virtual cinema today, Friday, July 3:
ELLIOTT ERWITT – SILENCE SOUNDS GOOD

Director:
Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu

World Premiere:
French TV broadcast (October 2019)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Newport Beach

About:
A portrait of the acclaimed Magnum photographer.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Charming and engaging, with a youthful curiosity well into his 80s, Elliott Erwitt has always let his photos speak for themselves. His iconic black-and-white shots of presidents, popes, celebrities, and everyday folks span over six decades and multiple countries. Narrated by his assistant, this film takes us inside his extensive photo archives and along with Elliott as he travels to Cuba to take photos for his newest book and exhibition.

New to DVD this week:
STOP

Director:
Spencer Wolff

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2014

About:
A young man takes on the NYPD’s policy of racial profiling.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
After David Ourlicht was stopped and searched by the NYPD for no discernible reason, he filed a class-action suit against the City of New York, alleging racial profiling in the police department’s stop-and-frisk policy. Following the charismatic young man over three years as he awaits the trial, Spencer Wolff reveals how David has been shaped by the experiences of his mixed-race family and their own struggles with discrimination in a New York of a different era – prejudice that should have no place in the present.