New to DVD this week:
HELL ON EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS
Directors:
Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Greenwich, Provincetown
About:
A comprehensive exploration of the conflict in Syria and the origins of the Islamic State.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
HILLEMAN: A PERILOUS QUEST TO SAVE THE WORLD’S CHILDREN
Director:
Donald Rayne Mitchell
Premiere:
Scinema 2016
Select Festivals:
American Documentary, New Hope
About:
A profile of Dr Maurice Hilleman, credited with developing most childhood vaccines.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 8:
SEA GYPSIES: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
Director:
Nico Edwards
Premiere:
Telluride Mountainfilm 2016
Select Festivals:
Napa Valley, Banff Mountain, Lone Star, Wild and Scenic, Washington DC Environmental, Oxford, Newport Beach, BendFilm
About:
A ragtag group of adventurers set sail from Australia to Patagonia.
Edwards joins the international crew of the Infinity, a refurbished 1977 yacht captained by Clemens, a German who has traveled the open seas for years with his young family. The latter sit out this particular voyage, which is intended to last for a couple of months through the rough, icy waters of the Ross Sea, conducted without permission or insurance and just for the sheer fun of it all. Although Edwards uses an excess of narration and includes some fairly extraneous footage at times, he does convey the warmth and camaraderie of the handsome crew as they enjoy their time on the water, while also facing dangerous weather and even assisting the efforts of radical environmentalists, the Sea Shepherd, in frustrating an illegal Japanese whaling expedition.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, August 9:
MACHINES
Director:
Rahul Jain
Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Thessaloniki Doc, Hot Docs, DocsBarcelona, Docaviv, Beldocs, Documenta Madrid, Docs Against Gravity
About:
On the lives of Indian textile factory workers.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 8:
NOTES ON BLINDNESS
Directors:
Peter Middleton and James Spinney
Premiere:
Sundance 2016
Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Sheffield, Tribeca, Cleveland, Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Jerusalem, San Francisco
About:
An immersive recreation of a man’s experience of losing his sight.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 4:
IT’S NOT YET DARK
Director:
Frankie Fenton
Premiere:
Galway 2016
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Edinburgh, Thessaloniki Doc, Docs Against Gravity, Sydney, Biografilm
About:
A chronicle of a filmmaker’s determination to complete his first feature, despite a diagnosis of ALS.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 4:
STEP
Director:
Amanda Lipitz
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, Seattle, San Francisco, Wisconsin, Montclair
About:
Members of an African-American Baltimore high school stepping team pursue their goals of higher education.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Friday, August 4:
THE GLAMOUR & THE SQUALOR
Director:
Marq Evans
Premiere:
Seattle 2015
Select Festivals:
NewFest, Outfest, Seattle LGBT, Spokane, Portland, Milwaukee, Sidewalk, Palm Springs, Calgary, Aruba
About:
A profile of an influential grunge-era DJ.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres and to VOD via Netflix tomorrow, Friday, August 4:
ICARUS
Director:
Bryan Fogel
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Sundance London, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Traverse City
About:
An unexpected exposé of a complex doping operation at the heart of Russia’s Olympics program.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Logo tonight, Thursday, August 3:
FORBIDDEN: UNDOCUMENTED AND QUEER IN RURAL AMERICA
Director:
Tiffany Rhynard
Premiere:
Outfest 2016
Select Festivals:
San Diego Latino, Charlotte, NewFest, LGBT fests in Rochester, Santa Barbara, Boston, Kansas City, Honolulu, Memphis, and Miami
About:
A young gay Latino, brought to the US at 18 months old, fights for immigration reform.
Now in his early 20s, Moises Serrano has become an immigration activist, sharing his undocumented, unafraid story in various speaking engagements, in contrast to the kind of growing xenophobic rhetoric most pointedly represented here in Donald Trump’s infamous candidacy speech, shown here. Although the title of Rhynard’s workmanlike film strangely references Moises’ sexuality and rural upbringing, neither of these carry much narrative weight compared with the topic of immigration reform. The bulk of this profile consists of fairly repetitive speeches given by the young activist, and his concerns over unfair tuition rates applied to undocumented college students. While Moises is an appealing, charismatic subject, as presented here, his story doesn’t wholly sustain feature-length treatment.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 