Category Archives: Releases

Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 13:
FINDING THE WAY HOME

Directors:
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

World Premiere:
NYC (December 2019)

About:
The stories of several formerly institutionalized children who were given a second chance.

Globally, children fall prey to disreputable or illegal orphanages or other institutions that promise desperate parents a better environment and educational opportunities but instead neglect, abuse, or traffic their sons and daughters for profit. Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill profile eight children, some with disabilities, who fortunately escaped this dark fate through the efforts of organizations that help to reunite families, find foster parents, and shut down criminal enterprises. Bringing viewers to far-flung lands including Moldova, Nepal, and Haiti, the doc offers heartbreaking stories of exploitation and greed, balanced with hopeful outcomes. The most eye-opening segment follows a Haitian pastor who has had his squalid orphanage closed by authorities, but goes on to open an equally overcrowded and filthy new children’s home. Taking a survey approach that unfortunately proves limiting, Alpert and O’Neill offer only brief sketches of the youth and their guardians, and unfortunately are unable to go into much detail, but the film still proves affecting.

New to DVD this week:
LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE

Directors:
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Provincetown, AFI Docs, Atlantic

About:
A look back at the celebrated pop artist’s career.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to DVD and digital this week:
HOLLY NEAR: SINGING FOR OUR LIVES

Director:
Jim Brown

Premiere:
Mill Valley 2018

About:
The story of the singer-songwriter and how her music fueled decades of activism.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 10:
BLACK MOTHER

Director:
Khalik Allah

Premiere:
True/False 2018

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Sheffield, New Directors/New Films, Sarasota, Montclair

About:
An essay offering a meditation on Jamaican identity, history, and spirituality.

I previously wrote about the doc here.