Category Archives: Releases

New to DVD this week:
TO THE EDGE OF THE SKY

Directors:
Jedd Wider and Todd Wider

Premiere:
Stony Brook 2017

Select Festivals:
Woodstock, Napa Valley

About:
Parents become activists to access the experimental drug that might save their sons’ lives.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a degenerative genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in 5000 boys, and is typically terminal by the mid-20s. The Wider brothers’ film profiles four boys with DMD – Charley, 12; Austin, 14; Jett, 18; and Aiden, 9 – and, just as importantly, their families, led by their fierce mothers. When the latter learn of a new drug with the potential to extend their sons’ lives, they are disheartened to learn the only way to gain access is as part of a very small clinical trial, and one that is not open to sufferers whose disease has progressed too far already. While this is standard operating procedure for the FDA to test a new drug safely before releasing it to the public, the boys’ mothers argue that there is life-threatening urgency that should bypass normal protocols. The film follows their efforts to mobilize a grassroots movement to force the FDA to fast-track access, even if there are risks. The film is unfortunately overlong, including one or two subjects too many, but generally succeeds as an ultimately hopeful, though often angry, David vs Goliath call-to-action profile.

Coming to PBS’s American Masters tomorrow, Friday, February 22:
CHARLEY PRIDE: I’M JUST ME

Director:
Barbara Hall

Premiere:
Belmont University, Nashville (January 2019)

About:
The story of the Negro League baseball player turned pioneering country music star.

Charley Pride grew up during segregation in small-town Sledge MS, the son of a cotton farm sharecropper. At the age of 18, he sought advancement via sports, joining the Memphis Red Sox in the Negro League, but found his true calling via music. Listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio with his father, Pride developed a love for country music that inspired his move to Nashville in 1963 during a time of racial strife. In this respectful but simple biography, Barbara Hall recounts how he parlayed his impressive voice and musical talent into an unlikely career as one of the few African American performers working in the genre. Now an octogenarian, Pride reminisces about his life and career, appearing alongside old friends and collaborators like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tonight, Tuesday, February 19:
STRUGGLE & HOPE

Director:
Kari Barber

Premiere:
Festival International du Film Panafricain Cannes 2017

Select Festivals:
Harlem, Bare Bones, Nevada Women’s, Ethnografilm Paris, Tulsa

About:
The overlooked story of Oklahoma’s historically all-black communities.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, black communities led an effort to establish an all-black state in what would become Oklahoma. Granted 1.5 million acres, these pioneers founded all-black towns throughout the territory, but the dream of a sovereign state quickly faded, and, within a few generations, many of the communities were absorbed into larger cities. Barber’s project reviews this fascinating history while profiling residents of some of the few remaining towns as they struggle to hold on to self-determination and their heritage in the face of encroachment in various forms. While tackling an important and sadly largely unknown topic, the doc is unfortunately very roughly made, juggling too many subjects in too brief a running time – not all of them particularly directly relevant or essential to the larger story – and awkwardly including its narrator on camera, literally reading from the script in front of him.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, February 18:
UNITED SKATES

Directors:
Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown

Premiere:
Tribeca 2018

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, London, Denver, Vancouver, Urbanworld, New Zealand, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Sidewalk

About:
An exploration of skating rink culture within African American communities.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, February 15:
A TUBA TO CUBA

Directors:
TG Herrington and Danny Clinch

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Tallgrass

About:
New Orleans’ legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band travels to Cuba.

Herrington and Clinch’s film follows Ben Jaffe, whose parents, Sandra and Allan, founded venue Preservation Hall in the French Quarter, as he fulfills their long-held but politically challenging dream of tracing the roots of New Orleans’ jazz back to Cuba. As a result, in addition to serving as a travelogue bridging cultures through music, the film also profiles the history of Preservation Hall and its band. Jaffe and his fellow bandmates reflect on their experiences in the newly-opened country after President Obama lifted the embargo, while Cuban musicians also offer their take when they’re not collaborating on songs via the universal language of music. Though best suited to fans of jazz, the film nevertheless has struck a chord with general audiences in its focus on cross-cultural exchange and lively energy.

New to DVD/VOD this week and coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, February 15:
PARKLAND: INSIDE BUILDING 12

Director:
Charlie Minn

Premiere:
Florida (September 2018)

About:
A play-by-play of the Parkland FL high school mass shooting and its aftermath.

A project that was met with criticism by some survivors and family members, Charlie Minn’s doc is split into two parts: the first maps out the shooting from start to finish, while the second pays tribute to each of the 17 victims through brief interviews with family members and friends. In the former, talking heads with Parkland survivor students and teachers, as well as law enforcement, families, and media, offer a very detailed recounting of the tragedy, through to the perpetrators arrest. These are augmented with a blueprint of the school floor plan, accompanied by simple animation demonstrating the killer’s movements and the devastation he left in his wake. Some student shot cameraphone footage and later media coverage supplement the proceedings. Following the survivor tribute section, the doc ends with Emma Gonzales’ now well-known speech at the March for Our Lives rally. While not feeling exactly sensationalistic, Minn’s project generally has a very basic TV feel, with a surface level treatment that simply revisits the tragedy rather than yielding any particular insights, despite notable access to witnesses.