Category Archives: Releases

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, June 2:
LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD

Directors:
Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl

Premiere:
Beirut 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, London, Haifa, IDFA, Cleveland, Montclair

About:
The story of Gertrude Bell, a British adventurer, spy, and diplomat known as “the female Lawrence of Arabia.”

A contemporary of the famed TE Lawrence, Bell is sadly far less known, yet she played a pivotal role in Western understanding of and involvement in the modern Middle East, particularly in the founding of Iraq after World War I. Oelbaum and Krayenbühl take an unorthodox approach in telling the iconoclast’s story, constraining their history to correspondence and diaries – Bell’s read by Tilda Swinton, while friends and associates’ words are recited on camera by actors in faux period talking heads. More conventional yet well-used and impactful is a wealth of fascinating archival footage of the Middle East, much of it beautifully tinted. Bell emerges as a fearless, influential figure – one ahead of her time, but whose dealings in the region offer a surprisingly modern resonance.

Coming to theatres via Tugg starting this Thursday, June 1:
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.

For more than 40 year, Kim never felt comfortable, but only recently understood why: though biologically female, Kim was male. Nearing 50, Kim embarks on his transition to live fully as a man, and director Bear takes the viewer step-by-step through the process. Kim recounts long years of struggle, isolation, and confusion, while experts too-often interrupt with PSA-like insights. While Bear benefits from following an affable, likeable subject, there unfortunately really isn’t very much to distinguish this project from countless other transgender portraits over the years that have already addressed familiar topics, from preparing for surgeries and adjusting to hormonal changes to coming out as trans later in life amd navigating coming out at work or to potential romantic partners.

Coming to the World Channel’s Doc World series this Sunday, May 28:
OUT RUN

Directors:
S Leo Chiang and Johnny Symons

Premiere:
Full Frame 2016

Select Festivals:
Frameline, LA Asian Pacific, Sheffield DocFest, Inside Out, UN Assoc, NewFest, Hawaii, MIX Brasil, BFI Flare, Cleveland

About:
An LGBT political party attempts to elect openly queer candidates in a primarily Catholic country.

Bemz Benedito heads up Ladlad, the world’s only LGBT political party, based in the Catholic nation of the Philippines, where, despite religiously-motivated bias, LGBT individuals nevertheless make up a visible minority. Benedito, a trans woman, together with two other Ladlad candidates, aims to push this visibility further by running for Congress. With limited resources, they place their hope in a grassroots campaign to mobilize working-class trans beauty salon workers to support their cause, even as a despicable hate monger evangelical pastor stands against them, offensively naming his own group AIDS. Chiang and Symons have located memorable subjects and show a welcome attention to issues of class that are typically ignored, in a well-produced project that otherwise sticks a bit too close to election countdown conventions to generate real surprises.