Category Archives: Releases

New to VOD this week:
THE AGGRESSIVES

Director:
Daniel Peddle

Premiere:
SXSW 2005

Select Festivals:
NewFest, Frameline, Outfest, London LGBT, Africa in the Picture, Cleveland

About:
An early 2000s exploration of a male-identified lesbian subculture.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s AfroPoP next Monday, January 28:
MAMA COLONEL

Director:
Dieudo Hamadi

Premiere:
Berlin 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, IDFA, Sheffield, MoMA Doc Fortnight, DocsMX, AFI Docs, Cinéma du Réel, Dok.Fest Munich, Docs Against Gravity, Encounters, Cinema Verite, One World, Guth Gafa, Dokufest, RIDM, Zurich, Göteborg, Vienna, Zanzibar, Durban, Rio

About:
A portrait of a fierce female Congolese police chief.

Veteran police officer Honorine Munyole arrives at her new post in the city of Kisangani to face daunting challenges in her mission to protect women and children from sexual violence. She meets with women in the area who tell of the rape they endured and the atrocities they witnessed during the Six-Day War of 2000 between Uganda and Rwanda within the city, but then finds their credibility questioned by others claiming more genuine victimhood. Munyole warns against mistreating children but faces all-too-common cases of adults beating, imprisoning, and starving kids as punishment for practicing witchcraft. Hamadi takes an observational approach, which, while capturing the stark realities of his subject’s work, limit the extent to which Munyole reveals herself to any great extent. Despite this, the film does convey her determination to make a difference despite the odds.

Coming to HBO next Monday, January 28:
BRESLIN AND HAMILL: DEADLINE ARTISTS

Directors:
Jonathan Alter, John Block, and Steve McCarthy

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
A profile of legendary newspaper NYC journalists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill defined an era of New York journalism in the late 20th century. They were swashbuckling liberal newspaper columnists who spoke for ordinary people and brought passion, wit and literary merit to their brilliant reporting about their city and the larger nation.

Breslin’s column was a longtime fixture of the New York Daily News. His best-known reporting includes his chilling correspondence with the Son of Sam and his column after John F. Kennedy’s funeral, which provided an Everyman perspective on the tragedy. Pete Hamill was a columnist and editor for the New York Daily News and the New York Post. He moved with ease through different circles, from blue collar workers to Hollywood celebrities. Both men wrote novels, nonfiction and memoirs, covering a range of topics from politics to crime to sports, always deeply rooted in the neighborhoods of New York City.

Veteran journalist Jonathan Alter, author of several books including THE CENTER HOLDS: OBAMA AND HIS ENEMIES, teams with Emmy Award-winning filmmakers John Block and Steve McCarthy to plunge us into Breslin and Hamill’s times, while probing explosive issues of race, class and the practice of journalism that resonate powerfully in our own time. They capture the writers in their own words and with added insights from peers such as Gloria Steinem and Gay Talese, as well as devoted readers such as Spike Lee and Colin Quinn. It’s essential viewing for anyone who loves journalism or New York City.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, January 23:
THE 5 BROWNS: DIGGING THROUGH THE DARKNESS

Director:
Ben Niles

Premiere:
Montclair 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, SF DocFest, Sedona

About:
A unique family musical group reckons with the revelation of past trauma.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Five close-knit siblings, all piano virtuosos trained at Juilliard, form The 5 Browns, a musical group that takes the world by storm, touring and recording best-selling albums. The facade of their happy, all-American family is shattered, however, with the revelation of a dark secret. Laced with brilliant musical performances, this is the compelling story of how the gifted siblings struggle to save themselves and their music while confronting their disturbing past.

Now in theatres and on Netflix:
FYRE: THE GREATEST PARTY THAT NEVER HAPPENED

Director:
Chris Smith

Premiere:
Netflix (January 18, 2019)

About:
An inside look at the infamous 2017 music festival debacle.

Smith’s film, which opened at NYC’s IFC Center and was released on Netflix last Friday, is one of two parallel docs on the same event. Hulu’s FYRE FRAUD launched a pre-emptive, press-grabbing stunt by unexpectedly being released last Monday, not-so-coincidentally the day the press embargo for Netflix’s film was lifted. While both films cover the same story – and even include some of the same interview subjects – they take slightly different approaches that make them both worthwhile. FRAUD has direct access to the key fraudster, organizer Billy McFarland in new interviews, and does a more comprehensive job of articulating his history of scams and fraudulent behavior, while also offering a broader consideration of the phenomenon of social media influencers, resulting in a more nuanced and layered project. Smith’s FYRE benefits from the participation of a range of Fyre’s employees and associates, including local Bahamians negatively impacted by the experience, as well as jaw-dropping insider footage of the company’s and McFarland’s activities, including the convicted felon coaching shady associates through new scams – personal footage that he himself arranged to be recorded for no conceivably sensible reason. Both docs thankfully rise above a simple repeat of the schadenfreude that greeted Fyre Festival’s implosion to instead offer a thoughtful autopsy of the event, an exploration of the unethical practices of its organizers, and a consideration of the culpability of its enablers.