Category Archives: Releases

Coming to National Geographic tonight, Monday, March 12 and to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13:
JANE

Director:
Brett Morgen

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Mill Valley, London, Philadelphia, Chicago

About:
A poetic portrait of the life and work of primatologist Jane Goodall.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Doc World series on The WORLD Channel this Sunday, March 11:
THE DEPARTURE

Director:
Lana Wilson

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, Bergen, Reykjavik, Vancouver, Mumbai, Moscow, Warsaw

About:
A Japanese priest who works as a suicide counselor must deal with the burden of his mission.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD via Sundance Now today, Thursday, March 8:
LIBERATION DAY

Directors:
Morten Traavik and Uģis Olte

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Sydney, Göteborg, Vilnius, Movies That Matter, One World, Docville

About:
A controversial cult rock band from the former Yugoslavia is selected to be the first to play in North Korea.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 9:
ITZHAK

Director:
Alison Chernick

Premiere:
Hamptons 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Jewish fests in Miami, Palm Beach, Atlanta, and Phoenix

About:
A deeply intimate portrait of acclaimed violin master, Itzhak Perlman.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 6:
FACES PLACES

Directors:
Agnès Varda and JR

Premiere:
Cannes 2017

Select Festivals:
Toronto, DOC NYC, New York, Telluride, Vancouver, New Zealand, Reykjavik, Melbourne, London, Chicago

Notable Recognition:
The doc was nominated for the Academy Awards.

About:
The odd couple director duo travel around French villages and photograph the people they meet.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, March 6:
THE PARIS OPERA

Director:
Jean-Stéphane Bron

Premiere:
Rendez-vous with French Cinema 2017

Select Festivals:
San Francisco, Seattle, BAFICI, BelDocs, Docs Against Gravity, Moscow, Locarno, Melbourne, New Zealand, Biografilm, Jerusalem

About:
An observational portrait of the French cultural institution over a tumultuous season.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, March 6:
HONDROS

Director:
Greg Campbell

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Denver, Hamptons, GlobeDocs, Stockholm, Vancouver

About:
A portrait of Chris Hondros, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in the same mortar blast that claimed the life of Tim Hetherington.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, March 2:
HONDROS

Director:
Greg Campbell

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Denver, Hamptons, GlobeDocs, Stockholm, Vancouver

About:
A portrait of Chris Hondros, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in the same mortar blast that claimed the life of Tim Hetherington.

Chris Hondros was killed in 2011 in Libya while covering the civil war there. His best friend and fellow journalist, Greg Campbell, directs this portrait, having been on that same trip with Chris but leaving just a few days before his death. The film incorporates interviews conducted with Hondros reflecting on his challenging career and what drives him, together with interviews with his mother, Inge, a German WWII refugee; his fiancee Christina; fellow photojournalists, who had both experienced kidnapping while on the job; plus several others who speak of the dangers of combat photojournalism and of Chris’ character. Campbell also draws on video of Hondros in the field, opening in Liberia in 2003 while Chris is literally dodging bullets, and ending with his coverage of the Libyan conflict, and its tragic consequences. Two of the subjects of Chris’ iconic photographs are also featured: Joe, a Liberian fighter who Hondros captured midjump while protecting a bridge; and Samar, who was photographed as a toddler crying after the accidental shooting by US military of a car containing her family, killing both of her parents. The aftermath of these images – for those within them and for Hondros himself – is examined in a not wholly successful thread which follows Campbell as he tries to track down Joe and Samer. Like other similar projects on slain combat journalists, like the Hetherington-focused WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? or JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, this elegaic film is its strongest when focused on Hondros himself, via the ample archival footage showing him in his element, compelled to bear witness to war and to capture its difficult yet unforgettable images.