Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, June 11:
WRESTLE
Director:
Suzannah Herbert
Co-Director:
Lauren Belfer
Premiere:
San Francisco 2018
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Traverse City, Rooftop Films, Denver, Indie Memphis, Bahamas, Woodstock, Hot Springs Doc, Milwaukee, Oxford
About:
An intimate look at a Huntsville AL high school wrestling team.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tomorrow night, Tuesday, June 11:
ICE ON FIRE
Director:
Leila Conners
World Premiere:
Cannes 2019
About:
A look at how the world can reverse climate change.
Despite the efforts of climate change denialists, the scientific community overwhelmingly has demonstrated the reality of the escalating crisis mankind has caused due to carbon emissions and the exploitation and depletion of fossil fuels. There have been countless documentaries exploring the impending doom the planet faces unless we change our ways and force political leaders to take steps to ameliorate the situation through legislation – a particularly challenging task under the present fact-free and science-phobic administration. Into the breach comes another climate change doc, which, like 2016’s BEFORE THE FLOOD, features Leonardo DiCaprio. Unlike the previous film, DiCaprio appears here only as narrator, and, in what will likely be a welcome approach for the more casual viewer, this current project attempts to focus on solutions more than ion scaring audiences with doom-and-gloom prognostications. That’s not to say that it completely avoids the latter, of course, but to director Leila Conners’ credit, there’s something of a lighter and more hopeful approach – perhaps too optimistic, but it’s a change of pace. She helms a well produced project here, with some nice graphics and cinematography, but her film suffers from a certain episodic blandness, consisting primarily of a survey of what feels like dozens of scientists, as well as the odd firefighter or fisherman, who each too-briefly comment on some element of their work connected with climate change before the scene change and DiCaprio introduces the next in line. While likely to appeal primarily to those viewers who are already concerned about climate change, the doc’s solutions-oriented approach might draw in some who have felt a certain amount of looming-disaster fatigue, but probably won’t leave a dramatic impression nor reach skeptics.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s World Channel today, Monday, June 10:
TO A MORE PERFECT UNION
Director:
Donna Zaccaro
Premiere:
Woodstock 2017
Select Festivals:
Nashville, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Boston and Miami
About:
The decades-long love between a lesbian couple serves to revisit the story of marriage equality in the US.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 7:
THE LAVENDER SCARE
Director:
Josh Howard
World Premiere:
qFLIX Philadelphia 2017
Select Festivals:
Virginia, Sun Valley, Frameline, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Sydney, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Rochester, Austin, Miami, and Palm Springs
About:
A look back at the Cold War era panic over gays in the government.
In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower declared war on homosexuals, specifically ordering their purge from the federal government. Motivated by fears over Communist espionage, the premise was that lesbians and gays, forced to break the law to indulge their desires, would be easy marks for blackmail by Russian agents seeking access to government secrets. The result was the destruction of careers, and in some cases lives, as explored through several brief profiles in Josh Howard’s serviceable if sometimes clunky project. While most individuals who were discriminated against had no choice but to go quietly, however, one man, astronomer Franklin Kameny, decided to fight back. Seeking redress for the injustice that ended his scientific career, he sought audience with any politician who might listen, and formed the Washington DC chapter of the gay rights activist organization The Mattachine Society. Howard provides viewers with a worthwhile history lesson about discrimination and resistance, particularly at a time of a present-day administration that is hostile to the victories won by LGBT people.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW: A FILM ABOUT LYNYRD SKYNYRD
Director:
Stephen Kijak
World Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Nashville, Macon, deadCenter
About:
A history and appreciation of the legendary Southern rock band.
In his latest music doc, director Stephen Kijak chronicles the sometimes tragic history of the iconic band behind “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird,” particularly focusing on the 1977 plane crash that claimed the lives of frontman Ronnie Van Zant and several others. Taking a largely chronological approach, the well-produced film tracks the origins and early years of the Jacksonville FL band, and details how the hardworking bandmates crossed over with their honky-tonk Americana. While Kijak addresses the band’s adoption of the controversial Confederate flag as a symbol – mandated by their record company – the warm film otherwise steers fairly clear of overt politics to relate instead the closeness of its members, the consequences of the plane crash, and the continued impact of Van Zant’s loss more than four decades ago.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Friday, June 7:
THE RUSSIAN FIVE
Director:
Joshua Riehl
World Premiere:
Freep 2018
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Seattle, Montreal
About:
An exploration of the impact of several Russian players on an American hockey team in the 1980s-1990s.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 7:
THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES
Director:
Gene Graham
Premiere:
SXSW 2018
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, AFI Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Montclair, IFF Boston
About:
An insider look at the African American exotic dancing scene of Newark NJ.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
LOOPERS: THE CADDIE’S LONG WALK
Director:
Jason Baffa
World Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2019
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Boulder, Newport Beach
About:
A celebration of the unsung heroes of golf.
In this inside-baseball approach to the world of golf, director Jason Baffa reviews the role of the caddy historically as it has changed to move beyond simply carrying a golfer’s clubs to serving as a partner, confidante, and game advisor. Several caddies are profiled, including individuals who went on to successful careers as golfers themselves or in other disciplines, such as narrator Bill Murray, a former caddy whose credits, of course, include the iconic comedy CADDYSHACK. Brief consideration is given around issue of race, gender, and class in the profession, and the talking heads, anecdote-oriented proceedings are livened up with some playful animation and archival footage. While suitable for sports programming in addition to its natural audience of golf fans, the doc is ultimately too niche to appeal to a broader viewership.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
THE RAFT
Director:
Marcus Lindeen
World Premiere:
CPH:DOX 2018
Select Festivals:
IDFA, London, Melbourne, Chicago, Doclisboa, Sao Paulo, Bergen, Antenna Doc, Dokufest, Haifa, Zurich, Athens, RiverRun
About:
A look back at an unusual social experiment from 1973.
In 1973, Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés launched a study that made international headlines, bringing together 11 diverse strangers to live in cramped quarters on a raft called the Acali on a voyage from the Canary Islands to Mexico over 100 days. The so-called Acali Experiment, though sounding like a prototypical REAL WORLD or BIG BROTHER reality television show, was intended as a scientific study to observe how individuals dealt with conflict, with Genovés on hand to push buttons, encourage sexual liaisons, and instigate quarrels. Coming at a time of women’s liberation and free love, the press was quick to dub the vessel “the sex raft,” but the reality, as revealed here through participants’ present-day recollections, archival footage, and Genovés’ journals, reveal a different story. The scientist’s approach took on dictatorial undertones, leading some participants to still harbor resentment for how he treated them. Lindeen skillfully creates a dialogue between the scientist, who died in 2013, and his surviving subjects, as they call into question Genovés’ “official” version of the proceedings while walking around a scale-model replica of their three-month home at sea. The result is a fascinating interrogation of his social experiment, presented in a compelling and creative manner.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 7:
GHOST FLEET
Directors:
Shannon Service, Jeffrey Waldron
World Premiere:
Telluride 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Toronto, Berlin, Doc Edge, Seattle, El Gouna, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Cleveland
About:
A harrowing look at slavery on the high seas.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
This suspenseful high-seas adventure follows a team of activists who rescue modern-day slaves in Thailand’s illegal fishing industry. Thai activist Patima Tungpuchayakul, nominated for the Nobel Prize for her work rescuing thousands of victims, tracks down escaped slaves who live like Robinson Crusoe on remote islands, helping to bring these long-vanished ghosts back to life and to their families.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
