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
New to VOD 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.
Mitchell’s film follows the now-familiar conventions of the unheralded hero profile – “the most important X the public has never heard of” – and in this case positions Hilleman as “the greatest scientist of the 20th century” for his pioneering work in eliminating many childhood diseases via vaccines. Responsible for the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, as well as those addressing a host of other diseases, from hepatitis B to the flu, there’s reason to recognize the microbiologist’s achievements in the same way that Salk and Sabin are celebrated for their polio vaccines. Mitchell constructs a fairly conventional, overly narrated biographical portrait more suited to PBS than to theatrical, drawing from archival material as well as more recent interviews with Hilleman before he passed away.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
I AM THE BLUES
Director:
Daniel Cross
Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, Pan African, Raindance, Salem, Docs Against Gravity, IndieBo
About:
An ethnomusicological tour of the American South.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, August 1:
ROMEO IS BLEEDING
Director:
Jason Zeldes
Premiere:
San Francisco 2015
Select Festivals:
Seattle, Berkshire, Newport Beach, Cleveland, St Louis, Aspen, St Louis, Hot Springs Doc, Napa Valley, Honolulu, Sarasota, Florida, RiverRun, Urbanworld
About:
A young African-American man turns to Shakespeare to address the violence in his community.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 1:
OBIT.
Director:
Vanessa Gould
Premiere:
Tribeca 2016
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Docs, GlobeDocs, Philadelphia, Provincetown, New Zealand, Traverse City, Hot Springs Doc, Denver, Palm Springs
About:
An inside look at The New York Times obituaries department.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 1:
HIRED GUN
Director:
Fran Stine
Premiere:
SXSW 2016
Select Festivals:
Noise Pop, Calgary, Melbourne
About:
20 FEET FROM STARDOM for unsung session musicians.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
