Coming to CNN this Sunday, January 14:
TROPHY
Directors:
Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
SXSW,CPH:DOX, Full Frame, Dallas, Encounters, Jerusalem, Melbourne, Moscow, Sun Valley, Montclair
About:
An exploration of the complex intersections between wildlife conservation and big game hunting.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, January 12:
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.
Hoback, taking a crusading Michael Moore/Josh Fox approach, appears throughout his film as an onscreen guide and narrator – an unnecessarily excessive and at times clumsy device – as he tries to get to the bottom of a spill that took place in early 2014 in Charleston’s Elk River which might never have been revealed save for a distinctive licorice smell in the drinking water. Fingers point to Freedom Industries, but Hoback suspects the chemical company is a convenient fall guy for a much deeper problem. The filmmaker finds compelling figures in local health department head Dr Rahul Gupta, who questions the safety of the contaminated water despite state official reassurances; and in Randy Huffman, head of WV’s Department of Environmental Protection, who is surprisingly open about how the organization primarily serves to help corporate exploitation of resources. Hoback’s digging revels the collusion of corporate interests with the government, evidence of regulatory capture in a broken system that works for industry rather than the public good.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
CITY OF TREES
Director:
Brandon Kramer
Premiere:
American Conservation Film Festival 2015
Select Festivals:
St Louis, Annapolis, Full Frame, and at enviro fests in Washington DC, Yale, and Princeton
About:
A well-intentioned plan to benefit an impoverished community leads to controversy.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
TAKE MY NOSE… PLEASE!
Director:
Joan Kron
Premiere:
Miami 2017
Select Festivals:
Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshire, SF DocFest, Newport Beach
About:
Two comediennes contemplate the impact of having plastic surgery.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 9:
THIS IS BOB HOPE…
Director:
John Scheinfeld
Premiere:
American Masters (Nov 2017, abridged version)
About:
An in-depth look at the life and eight-decade career of the comedian and performer.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, January 9:
DINA
Directors:
Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nantucket, True/False, Full Frame, SF Jewish, Seattle, Sheffield, Sun Valley, Sarasota
About:
A profile an unforgettable woman as she seeks to realize her desires.
My pre-Sundance look at the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 9:
THE JAZZ LOFT ACCORDING TO W EUGENE SMITH
Director:
Sara Fishko
Premiere:
New Orleans 2015
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Rotterdam, Full Frame, Cleveland, Florida, BAFICI, Copenhagen Jazz Film Festival
About:
An insider look at NYC bohemia in the late 1950s-early 1960s.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, January 9:
INTO THE AMAZON
Director:
John Maggio
Premiere:
American Experience (January 2018)
About:
Former President Teddy Roosevelt faces death during a South American expedition.
In 1913, still stinging from his electoral defeat which would have given him a third term as president, Roosevelt set off on an adventure to re-energize his spirits. Joining with famed Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon and a team of six Americans which included his son, Kermit, Roosevelt was tasked to chart an unexplored Amazon tributary known as the River of Doubt. As detailed in Maggio’s well-executed, if conventional, retelling, the experience turned out far more challenging and treacherous than anyone anticipated, costing the lives of several on the trek, and nearly adding Roosevelt’s to that number.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, January 8:
UNREST
Director:
Jennifer Brea
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, CPH:DOX, SXSW, RiverRun, Cleveland, Nashville, New Zealand, Melbourne
Notable Recognition:
The doc was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
About:
A personal and candid look at life with a debilitating and widely misunderstood medical condition.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to VOD this week:
BOBBI JENE
Director:
Elvira Lind
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Camden, Docaviv, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Melbourne, Helsinki
About:
An American dancer leaves a position with Israel’s premier dance company to return to the US to begin a solo career.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
