Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 13:
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
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13:
ART AND HEART: THE WORLD OF ISAIAH SHEFFER
Director:
Catherine Tambini
Premiere:
New York Jewish Film Festival 2016
Select Festivals:
Berkshire, Hamptons Take 2 Doc, Jewish fests in San Francisco, Palm Beach, and New Jersey
About:
A tribute to a prominent NYC cultural figure, the founder and artistic director of performing arts organization/theatre, Symphony Space.
Tambini assembles a parade of admirers, collaborators, and family members – as well as interviews with Sheffer himself, who died in 2012 at the age of 76 – to reveal the Renaissance man’s many contributions to the arts and culture of the city. With a career encompassing the Yiddish theatre, public radio, and his decades of stewardship of Symphony Space and its eclectic, multidisciplinary programming, Sheffer affords the director a rich archive with which to work, and she ably conveys his achievements and his affable personality, even to viewers who may never have heard of him.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13:
THE AMERICAN EPIC SESSIONS
Director:
Bernard MacMahon
Premiere:
BFI London 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hawaii, Göteborg, IDFA
About:
A celebration of early music recording.
I profiled the program before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NatGeo this Sunday, June 11:
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
Coming to Showtime tonight, Friday, June 9:
BECOMING CARY GRANT
Director:
Mark Kidel
Premiere:
Cannes 2017
Select Festivals:
Edinburgh
About:
The story of how working-class Archie Leach became debonair actor Cary Grant.
Based on an unpublished memoir, and peppered with clips from his movie career as well as rare home movies, Kidel’s film traces Leach’s re-invention, while also exploring the lasting impact of his upbringing. Of particular note is his long-held belief that his mother abandoned him as a child – Grant later learned his father had her committed and the actor developed a relationship with her after his success. He linked this formative sense of betrayal to both his lifelong distrust of women and a string of unsuccessful marriages. Curiously, the film never entertains the question of Grant’s potential gay relationships, though his onscreen appeal to both men and women is noted by film historians. Much of the introspection that characterizes the memoir is born of Grant’s participation in extensive LSD psychotherapy in the late 1950s, here represented in not entirely effective re-enactments, but the film otherwise offers viewers with an engaging overview of the development of the charismatic performer’s life and career.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 9:
RAISING BERTIE
Director:
Margaret Byrne
Premiere:
Full Frame 2016
Select Festivals:
Sarasota, Bentonville, AFI Docs, Atlanta Docufest, Chicago, Citizen Jane, Cucalorus, Big Sky Doc
About:
An observational coming-of-age portrait of three African-American teenagers in rural North Carolina.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, June 9:
NIGHT SCHOOL
Director:
Andrew Cohn
Premiere:
Tribeca 2016
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Heartland, SXSWedu, St Louis, BendFilm
About:
A profile of three adults seeking to better their lives through education.
I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Single father Greg dropped out of high school to sell drugs, but now wants to make a better life for his young daughter. After always caring for others, grandmother Melissa sets out to prove that she can accomplish a goal for herself. Shynika dreams of leaving her dead-end minimum-wage job to become a nurse. In this deeply affecting portrait set in urban Indianapolis – a city with one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the United States – they return to school to earn their high school diplomas and to end the cycle of poverty inextricably tied to educational opportunities.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
FINDING KIM
Director:
Aaron Bear
Premiere:
Seattle 2016
Select Festivals:
Nashville, Rhode Island, SF DocFest
About:
A Seattle FTM begins his transition at the age of 49.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, June 6:
POLITICAL ANIMALS
Director:
Jonah Markowitz
Co-Director:
Tracy Wares
Premiere:
Los Angeles 2016
Select Festivals:
Athena, Napa Valley, Flyway, Vermont, Provincetown, NewFest, LGBT fests in Atlanta, Rochester, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Santa Barbara, Madrid, Uganda, Sydney, Amsterdam, London
About:
A profile of elected California legislators, all lesbians, who helped pave the way for LGBT rights.
Markowitz and Wares turn the spotlight on four pioneering California politicians who served in the CA Assembly, two starting in the mid-1990s, as out lesbian women. While known within the state, they remain unheralded on the larger national stage, but put forth legislation that helped end discrimination and set up an environment more conducive to marriage equality and other LGBT rights. At the center of the portrait is Sheila Kuehl, a former actress turned political firebrand, whose long struggle to pass a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in schools takes up a disproportionate portion of the film. Fellow politicians Carole Migden, Jackie Goldberg, and Christine Kehoe eventually get their own chance to shine, building on earlier victories to push for domestic partnerships and greater protections under the law. While talking heads dominate, the film wisely energizes its otherwise conventional presentation by employing judiciously chosen footage from Assembly debate, demonstrating the quartet’s sensibility and candor even when faced with backward-thinking and at times baldly homophobic rhetoric from opponents.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, June 6:
THE FREEDOM TO MARRY
Director:
Eddie Rosenstein
Premiere:
Frameline 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hawaii, Savannah, Big Sky Doc, Sebastopol Doc, Jewish fests in SF, Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia, LGBT fests in Houston, Austin, Durham, Atlanta, Melbourne, Seoul
About:
A behind-the-scenes look at the fight to legalize same-sex unions in America.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
