Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, July 10:
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
Director:
Feras Fayyad
Co-Director:
Steen Johannessen
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Full Frame, Sarasota, Movies That Matter, Istanbul, Nashville
About:
A chronicle the lives of Aleppo’s White Helmets, the city’s volunteer civil defense team.
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, July 7:
SWIM TEAM
Director:
Lara Stolman
Premiere:
Hot Springs Doc 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Napa Valley, Oxford, Glasgow, Big Sky Doc, Boulder, Reel Abilities, SXSWedu, San Diego Latino, Sarasota, RiverRun, Nashville, Montclair, Berkshire, Greenwich, SF Docfest
About:
A portrait of three teenage swimmers, all on the autism spectrum.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Demonstrating the power of inclusion to transcend disability, Lara Stolman’s triumphant film profiles members of the Jersey Hammerheads, a competitive swim team made up of a diverse group of teens on the autism spectrum, based in the state with the highest rate of autism in the country. Through training and competition, star athletes Mikey, Robbie and Kelvin gain self-confidence and social skills that serve them both in and out of the pool.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, July 7:
SANTOALLA
Directors:
Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer
Premiere:
Edinburgh 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, IDFA, Cleveland, BAFICI, Austin, Thessaloniki Doc, Big Sky Doc, Krakow,
About:
Neighbors in a remote idyllic community face off with dire consequences.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Seeking a quieter life without rules, Martin and Margo leave the bustle of Amsterdam to set up a farm in Santoalla, located in remote Spanish Galicia. Like many rural communities, the crumbling village has seen its population dwindle. When the Dutch couple arrives, the only other residents are their neighbors, the Rodríguez family. Initial friendliness soon gives way to disagreements and then a full-fledged feud that lasts a decade… until Martin’s mysterious disappearance. Becker and Mehrer expertly craft a whodunnit with a limited number of suspects in this surprising, atmospheric true crime tale.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, July 4:
SAVE MY SEOUL
Director:
Jason Y Lee
Premiere:
LA Asian Pacific 2017
Select Festivals:
Asian American fests in New York and Silicon Valley
About:
Korean-American filmmaking brothers investigate the illegal but condoned culture of prostitution in Korea.
While visiting Korea, brothers Jason and Eddie naively begin an undercover investigation, using hidden cameras and sound recording equipment while they visit the red light district. Interviews with police about how brothels are able to operate yield only evasive answers, but when the Lees convince former working girls Crystal and Esther to speak on camera, they learn details about their negative experiences, later bolstered by access to a working pimp who defends his profession. Supplementing these compelling figures are frequent and superfluous vox pops with ordinary Korean citizens, which drag out the proceedings for what is a well-intentioned but often clumsy project that would have benefited from the overzealous filmmakers not including themselves on camera.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, July 7:
CITY OF GHOSTS
Director:
Matt Heineman
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Tribeca, CPH:DOX, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Jeonju, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Jerusalam, Seattle, Montclair, Traverse City
About:
A courageous group of citizen journalists risk their lives to expose the truth behind ISIS.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD via Netflix tomorrow, Tuesday, July 4:
VEGAS BABY
Director:
Amanda Micheli
Premiere:
Tribeca 2016
Select Festivals:
San Francisco, AFI Docs, IFF Boston, Cleveland, Miami
About:
People struggling with infertility participate in a contest held by a fertility clinic.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, July 3:
THE WAR SHOW
Directors:
Obaidah Zytoon and Andreas Dalsgaard
Premiere:
Venice 2016
Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, Bergen, Reykjavik, London, Dubai, Goteborg
About:
A group of friends capture the de-evolution of Syria’s revolution into civil war.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 30:
THE B-SIDE: ELSA DORFMAN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Director:
Errol Morris
Premiere:
Telluride 2016
Select Festivals:
Toronto, New York, Chicago, IDFA, Hong Kong, Provincetown, Moscow, IFF Boston,
About:
A large-scale Polaroid photographer reflects on her work on the eve of her retirement.
Laying aside his Interrotron for the moment, master documentarian Morris goes for a warmer, more personal interaction with his latest subject, visiting Elsa Dorfman in her Cambridge MA photography studio which doubles as a cramped archive. The photographer discovered her medium in the early 1980s when she encountered a 20×24 Polaroid camera, and has been taking large-print portraits ever since. Morris’ film’s title derives from her practice of shooting two portraits with the same client, keeping the rejected one – the “b-side” – for herself. As a result of Polaroid’s bankruptcy and its discontinuation of 20×24 instant film, Dorfman faces impending retirement, prompting a sometimes wistful look back at her career and the strikingly optimistic work she has produced. What emerges is a subtle contemplation of time, mortality, and legacy.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, June 30:
MALI BLUES
Director:
Lutz Gregor
Premiere:
Visions du Reel 2016
Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, Munich, Dubai, Indielisboa, Santa Barbara, Minneapolis St Paul, Warsaw, Stockholm
About:
A world music star returns to her homeland of Mali to perform for the first time in defiance of radical Islamic law.
Like many performers, singer Fatoumata Diawara has been unable to pursue her passion in Mali in recent years because of the spread of sharia law and its ban on secular music and dance. When the situation improves, Diawara and several other musicians return to perform in large concert, the Festival of Niger. Lutz follows them as they prepare, filling in their back stories and exploring their connection to an Islam that is not repressive or violent. Diawara eclipses the other protagonists here, suggesting that Lutz might have been better off focusing his attention on either just her or fewer subjects. While well-produced, the film tends toward full-on concert film territory rather than expanding on the situation facing musicians in Mali – a subject which was also already explored in the earlier THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, June 30, and to VOD next Tuesday, July 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 for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Trading on his celebrity to curry favor with voters, Ronald Reagan transitioned from Hollywood actor to politician, ultimately attaining the highest office in the land. Composed entirely of 1980s news footage and behind-the-scenes videos produced by his own administration, this insightful, entertaining, and strangely prescient film details how Reagan used public relations savvy to become the first made-for-TV president – one uniquely suited to face off against a charismatic Russian rival.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 