Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 20:
THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR
Director:
Nancy Buirski
Premiere:
Venice 2017
Select Festivals:
New York Film Festival, Chicago, Film Columbia, Woodstock, Double Exposure,
About:
An exploration of a 1944 case of sexual assault against an African-American woman in Alabama.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, March 19:
ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER
Director:
Rebecca Miller
Premiere:
Telluride 2017
Select Festivals:
New York Film Festival, Woodstock
About:
An intimate portrait of the filmmaker’s famed playwright father.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Doc World on the WORLD Channel this Sunday, March 18:
ARMED WITH FAITH
Directors:
Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi
Premiere:
Sheffield 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Atlanta, Vancouver, Salem
About:
A profile of members of a bomb squad on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
After 9/11, Pakistan, an American ally in the global war on terror, is plagued by both homegrown and international terrorism. The small yet heroic Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit is on the frontline of defense, defusing bombs, navigating land mines, and grappling with suicide bombers, all while dealing with financial hardship and familial pressure. Harrowing and suspenseful, Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi’s compelling film takes us on the ground with this dedicated squad of men who risk their own lives every day for their country.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, March 16:
RAMEN HEADS
Director:
Koki Shigeno
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2017
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Freep, Salem, SF Indie, San Sebastian, Denver, Goteborg, Hawaii, Thessaloniki Doc
About:
An ode to the Japanese comfort food.
Shigeno’s film pays tribute to the wonders of ramen, chiefly by profiling Osamu Tomita, a master ramen chef uninterested in keeping any secrets about how he builds the distinctive flavors of his broths and noodles. When focused on Tomita, the project proves to be a mildly diverting exercise in food porn and culinary culture, but, unfortunately, Shigeno doesn’t stop there. Instead, the filmmaker conducts an unnecessary survey of other ramen chefs which lends a cheap, television quality to the production, one only exacerbated by the distractingly overblown narration and music which dominates the proceedings.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres and to VOD tomorrow, Friday, March 16:
OUR BLOOD IS WINE
Director:
Emily Railsback
Premiere:
Berlin 2018
About:
An appreciation of the ancient winemaking traditions of the Republic of Georgia.
Curious about the origins of wine, filmmaker Emily Railsback and sommelier Jeremy Quinn travel to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which has been producing the beverage for 8000 years. They visit traditional wine producers in various regions of the country, making the unusual decision to film the proceedings via iPhone, which unfortunately lends the project an uncinematic feel. While providing some occasionally intriguing history lessons, and some measure of ethnographic interest, such as the early segments exploring the ancient use of large qvevri clay urns for fermentation, the overall project feel scattered and a bit too dry to maintain general interest.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, March 16:
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, LOU DIMAGGIO?
Director:
Brad Kuhlman
Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2017
Select Festivals:
Nashville, Beverly Hills, Woodstock Comedy
About:
A former stand-up comedian attempts a comeback.
In the 1980s and ’90s, Lou DiMaggio was a regular performer at Manhattan’s Catch A Rising Star, the same comedy club that helped launch legendary figures like Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Larry David, among many others. After leaving NYC for the lure of Hollywood, DiMaggio soon stopped performing in favor of comedy writing gigs, even winning an Emmy for WIN BEN STEIN’S MONEY. Kuhlman follows DiMaggio as he sets out to return to the stage, twenty years later, and filmed with trepidation that today’s young audience will care what he has to say. To psych himself up, and simultaneously indulge in some enjoyable and often funny nostalgia, the comic visits with old friends from the comedy club circuit, including Larry David, Colin Quinn, Howie Mandel, Susie Essman, and a candid Jeff Garlin, who warns him away unless he absolutely has to perform. When DiMaggio finally does make an awkward attempt, he bombs horribly, but doesn’t let that stop him. While Kuhlman’s largely talking heads-oriented film breaks no new ground, there’s an odd appeal to his protagonist and his fellow comedians’ frank dissection of the pain and work that go into their craft.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 16:
AUGIE
Director:
James Keach
Premiere:
Nashville 2017
Select Festivals:
Austin, Greenwich, Boston, Hot Springs, Newport Beach, Heartland
About:
A portrait of life with ALS for fitness mogul Augie Nieto and his wife.
Entrepreneur Augie Nieto found success in the fitness industry with the Lifecycle. At the age of 47, in 25, he was diagnosed with ALS. In response, Nieto, together with his supportive wife, Lynne, set up Augie’s Quest, an organization devoted to raising funds for research into the disease. Keach profiles the devoted couple as they contend with the challenges of ALS and of their mission to finds its cure. While treading on familiar terrain as other films addressing life with a debilitating and likely terminal diagnosis, and tending to over-rely on disconnected, indulgent anecdotes about Augie, the uplifting film benefits from Lynne’s centrality and candor.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 16:
MAINELAND
Director:
Miao Wang
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
Camden, Vancouver, Maryland, IFF Boston, Durban, Hawaii, San Diego Asian American, Seattle Asian American
About:
An observational portrait of affluent Chinese teenagers in a US boarding school.
Wang’s project focuses on Stella and Harry, who leave their native China to enroll in the Fall 2012 semester at Fryeburg Academy in rural Maine, a boarding school that has found a new market for students in Asia seeking an escape from the rigors of China’s national education system and a leg up in the global marketplace through direct experience with American culture. Following their experiences over three years, Wang subtly explores culture clash and language differences, and how Stella and Harry do – and don’t – immerse themselves in their new surroundings. It’s a quiet film – there’s little evidence of the emotional impact of this major life change on the Chinese students, at least on the surface – but it offers an intimate look at two strangers in a strange land.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
LET THERE BE LIGHT
Director:
Mila Aung-Thwin
Co-Director:
Van Royko
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, Docs Against Gravity, Krakow, Zurich, Sarasota, Leeds, Tallinn Black Nights, Guangzhou, DOXA, Guanajuato, Fantasia, Camden, Bergen
About:
A group of international scientists and engineers attempt to harness the power of fusion.
Seeking solutions to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels and the environmental pollution and devastation that often results from their exploitation, thinkers from around the globe are attempting to build complex machines like tokamaks and stellarators – “artificial suns” which could provide clean and affordable energy via nuclear fusion. Aung-Thwin and Royko profile these efforts, focused largely on the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) tokamak, a massive project that likely won’t be completed until after its creators are long gone. Using creative animation to spruce up the science lesson, this appealing film succeeds in making the potentially offputting, educational-sounding subject matter palatable to a general audience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
SPETTACOLO
Directors:
Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Biografilm, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Melbourne, Cleveland, Dallas, Sarasota, Nashville, SF DocFest
About:
Italian villagers transform their lives into an annual play.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 