Category Archives: Releases

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, September 6:
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 for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Fifty years ago, the tiny Tuscan village of Monticchiello, population 136, developed a novel way to address community concerns: it dramatized them, turning residents’ lives into a play performed in the piazza for all to watch, discuss, and debate. Whether confronting the tragedies they suffered in World War II or reckoning with a changing economy that has seen their farming culture erode, villagers young and old unite each summer to show the revelatory, transformative power of art.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 5:
THEY CALL US MONSTERS

Director:
Ben Lear

Premiere:
Los Angeles Film Festival 2016

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Austin, Human Rights Watch, Hot Springs Doc, Antenna Doc, Heartland,

About:
A consideration of juvenile offenders who are tried as adults.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 4:
MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT

Director:
Victoria Campbell

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2014

Select Festivals:
Martha’s Vineyard, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A profile of a complicated figure who emerges in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 5:
SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Director:
Matt Schrader

Premiere:
Hamptons 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Hawaii, Santa Barbara, CPH:DOX, RiverRun, Dallas, Cleveland, Ashland, San Francisco, Nashville, deadCENTER

About:
An inside look at the art of the film score.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to CNN tonight, Monday, September 4:
THE REAGAN SHOW

Directors:
Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengill

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Montclair, Seattle, AFI Docs

About:
In 1918, Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan took on the role of a lifetime: the 40th President of the United States.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed this coming Tuesday, September 5:
CARE

Director:
Deirdre Fishel

Premiere:
Sheffield 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Docs, SF LaborFest, Virginia

About:
A look at the challenges facing elder caregiving in America.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
As our population ages, the need for health care also rises. For those who wish to remain in their homes, the kind of in-depth, personal connection provided by compassionate caregivers is essential. Fishel’s empathetic film follows three of these workers, uncovering the failures of the US eldercare system, which finds caregivers earning poverty wages and their clients struggling to afford essential services.

New to VOD this week:
FOOD EVOLUTION

Director:
Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2016

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Cleveland, Seattle

About:
An exploration of the polarized debate surrounding GMOs.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, September 4:
THE GROWN-UPS

Director:
Maite Alberdi

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
True/False, Hot Docs, Docaviv, Visions du Reel, Thessaloniki Doc, Tempo Doc, DocsBarcelona, Full Frame, Docs Against Gravity, Miami, Cartagena, Seattle, Sydney, Human Rights Watch, Cleveland, Encounters, AFI Docs, Guadalajara, ZagrebDox, It’s All True

About:
Middle-aged students with Down syndrome face obstacles to their independence.

Set in a Chilean school for people with Down, Alberdi’s appealing film profiles several women and men who, in some cases, have been attending for four decades, and, as is quickly apparent, have grown frustrated with going through the same paces in their vocational program for catering. Demonstrating a range of intellectual and emotional maturity, from the high-functioning Anita to the more challenged Rita, these individuals have not been children for years, yet find themselves being infantilized by existing laws that limit their ability to make decisions for themselves. Anita and her boyfriend Andres would like to marry, but they are not legally permitted. Ricardo, while holding a part-time job as a caregiver, is paid such criminally low wages that he’ll never be able to support himself. Although demonstrating these inequities, Alberdi generally uses a deft hand, revealing complex, fully-rounded subjects rather than simple mouthpieces for social issues – the only notably sour note here is the the too playful score, which at times undercuts the film’s more nuanced approach.