Category Archives: Releases

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tonight, Tuesday, November 7:
ON A KNIFE EDGE

Director:
Jeremy Williams

Premiere:
SF DocFest 2017

Select Festivals:
AIM Film Fest, Tulsa, Santa Fe

About:
A Lakota teenager becomes politicized as he witnesses injustices against his people.

While focused on young George Dull Knife, from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Williams’ film ultimately also serves as a profile of his father, Guy. The latter’s perspective, nicely represented via animated treatments of his artwork, offers generational history that informs how the elder man has raised his children, including George, to embrace the strength of their heritage as warriors. The younger Dull Knife, who is 14 at the outset of this project, sees the importance of claiming his legacy by turning to activism, joining AIM, the American Indian Movement, and its local efforts to address negative influences on Pine Ridge. Notably they take a stand against the local white community of Whiteclay, which sells alcohol to Lakota, coming into conflict with local law enforcement and its disproportionate targeting of Natives in arrests. The film benefits from providing a focus on the Dull Knifes rather than going for an overly broad look at the larger community – while limited in scope by design, the result is an intimate, personal exploration of modern day Native identity and activism.

Coming to Starz tonight, Monday, November 6:
ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE: TRUTH, DECEPTION, AND THE SPIRIT OF I F STONE

Director:
Fred Peabody

Premiere:
Toronto 2016

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Thessaloniki Doc, CPH:DOX

About:
A consideration of the work of independent journalists, through the lens of the pioneering I F Stone.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Saturday, November 4:
ONE MORE SHOT

Director:
Noah Moskin

Premiere:
The ART of Infertility (Seattle, April 2017)

About:
The filmmakers confront infertility as they attempt to become parents.

As revealed via director Noah Moskin’s chatty narration, his wife Maya (also the film’s producer) and he face unexpected trouble when they try to have a baby. Eventually the couple seeks medical assistance only to find that Maya has a diminished reserve of ovaries and thus a lower than average chance of getting pregnant by natural means. Facing this infertility issue, they set off on a long process of trying to get pregnant in various ways with the help of fertility specialists, including harvesting her remaining eggs and inseminating them in the lab for later implementation, soliciting an egg donation from Maya’s sister, and, finally, embryo adoption – essentially giving birth to one’s own adopted child. Through the long, difficult process, Maya and Noah face financial hurdles as well as emotional ones. Underscoring the challenges faced by others struggling with the same issue, Moskin also profiles several other families and reveals the different paths they took toward becoming parents. While the filmmaking is at times fairly rough, with a tendency toward using montages and goofy music, the viewer can’t help but empathize with Maya and Noah, given the intimate access they’re providing to what is too often a very personal ordeal.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 3:
NO DRESS CODE REQUIRED

Director:
Cristina Herrera Borquez

Premiere:
Havana 2016

Select Festivals:
Palm Springs, Human Rights Watch, Guanajuato, Kashish Mumbai LGBT, Ambulante, DocsMX, Outfest, Seattle, Warsaw

About:
A gay Mexican couple fights local government to get married.

After the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled that same sex marriage was legal, longtime couple Victor and Fernandez decide to wed. It ends up being far from easy, as their small-minded local government officials in Mexicali defy the federal ruling and set up a seemingly endless, and increasingly absurd, series of obstacles. From claims of discrepancies in paperwork to utterly unfounded accusations that the would-be grooms have dementia, wedding date after wedding date is postponed, straining the couple’s emotional and mental well-being, as well as that of their legal counsel. Herrera Borquez follows them over the two year ordeal as the men take a stand on their home turf, rather than marry in the more liberal Mexico City as other couples opt to do. Although a less familiar case than the US’s own Proposition 8, this oddly-titled documentary covers a well-trod topic, and, filmmaking-wise, is decidedly roughly constructed – its only saving grace is the strength of its appealing, genuine main subjects.