Coming to Starz this Monday, April 23:
INTENT TO DESTROY
Director:
Joe Berlinger
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, IDFA, Krakow, Maryland, St Louis, IFF Boston, San Francisco Jewish, New Zealand, Haifa, Heartland, Denver
About:
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of a narrative feature about the 1915-1918 Armenian genocide.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 20:
AFTER AUSCHWITZ
Director:
Jon Kean
Premiere:
Chapman University (September 2016)
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Los Angeles Jewish, Warsaw Jewish
About:
Six Holocaust survivors share stories of life after the death camp.
I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Jon Kean’s SWIMMING IN AUSCHWITZ related the stories of six European women who faced the horrors of the Third Reich but managed to survive. His follow-up focuses on these same courageous Holocaust survivors, who detail what happened after they were liberated from Auschwitz-Birkenau in January 1945. With no homes or families left in Europe, they forged a new path, emigrating to America to begin anew, and eventually confronting the tragic past they long kept buried.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
KILLING FOR LOVE
Directors:
Marcus Vetter and Karin Steinberger
Premiere:
Munich 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Denver, RiverRun, Virginia, DocsDF, DMZ Docs, Docs Barcelona, Docaviv, Reykjavik, Durban, Krakow, Doc Edge, Docs Against Gravity, Turkey
About:
A brutal double homicide reveals secrets, lies, and the limits of the American justice system.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, April 18:
44 PAGES
Director:
Tony Shaff
Premiere:
SXSW Edu 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Dallas, Sarasota, Cleveland, RiverRun, Nashville, Sidewalk, Indie Memphis, St Louis,
About:
A behind the scenes look at the most popular children’s magazine in the world.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Since 1946, kids across the country, and, eventually, around the world, have enjoyed Highlights magazine, a staple at doctors’ offices known for its instructive Goofus and Gallant feature and hidden-picture illustrations. Shaff’s heartwarming film follows the creation of the magazine’s landmark 70th anniversary issue, from initial editorial meetings through cover and feature designs, to the finished product, offering an inside look at the family-owned publication and the passionate staff that serves “the world’s most important people:” children.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18:
BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY
Directors:
David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Telluride Mountainfilm, Seattle, Human Rights Watch, AFI Docs, Hot Springs Doc, Traverse City, Los Angeles, Provincetown
About:
A revealing profile of the well-known educational television personality turned science advocate.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tonight, Tuesday, April 17:
THE CORRIDOR
Directors:
Annelise Wunderlich and Richard O’Connell
Premiere:
Mill Valley 2017
About:
A profile of a unique prisoner education program.
The film focuses on the Five Keys Charter School, notable as the first high school custom-built within an adult jail. Housed in San Francisco’s county jail, it serves both male and female prisoners. By law, participation is mandatory, and those who embrace the program are able to earn their high school diplomas, while also developing tools and knowledge to be able to make it on the outside. The program was developed in response to a criminally high rate of recidivism, a clear signal that traditional methods were not succeeding. With a solid, unflashy approach, Wunderlich and O’Connell economically follow two inmate students, William, an older African American man who has spent most of his life in jail, and Bethany, a younger woman who has been a drug addict and lost custodial rights of her kids, as well as a teacher and prison officers. While some remain skeptical, the program has graduated an impressive number of students since 2007, with a corresponding drop in recidivism, and has been replicated elsewhere.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, April 16:
I AM EVIDENCE
Directors:
Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Traverse City, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Hawaii, St Louis, UN Association, Globe Docs, Hamptons, Milwaukee,
About:
An alarming look at institutional failures in prosecuting sexual assault cases.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, April 16:
WHAT LIES UPSTREAM
Director:
Cullen Hoback
Premiere:
Slamdance 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, AFI Docs, Traverse City, Dallas, Sonoma, Ashland
About:
The filmmaker investigates the coverup behind drinking water contamination in West Virginia.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theateres today, Friday, April 13:
NANA
Director:
Serena Dykman
Premiere:
St Louis 2016
Select Festivals:
Fargo, Harlem, Miami Jewish, Rocky Mountain Women’s
About:
The filmmaker revisits her grandmother’s enduring mission to share her story as a Holocaust survivor.
The film’s titular subject is Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, an outspoken, disarmingly funny Polish woman who emerged from the horrors of Auschwitz as the sole survivor of her family, and who died when the filmmaker was only eleven. She appears here primarily through a collection of interviews and public appearances where she relates her experiences of the Holocaust, the anti-Semitism that welcomed her upon liberation, and her lifelong survivor’s guilt. Having approached this project as a way to better learn about her grandmother, Dykman ends up employing the crutch of many a first-time filmmaker and takes an unnecessarily meta approach, attempting to make her film also about her own journey – in making the doc, and in following in Michalowski-Dyamant’s footsteps both literally – retracing her steps – and figuratively – viewing her filmmaking as a different way of continuing to speak out about the Holocaust. This split focus results in a clunkiness that, rather than supplementing the older woman’s story, unfortunately serves as a distraction.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION
Director:
Andrea Kalin
Premiere:
Sidewalk 2016
Select Festivals:
Hot Springs Doc, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Oxford, Salem, Maryland, RiverRun, WorldFest Houston
About:
A profile of a Southern belle turned Central American political figure.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
