Coming to VOD tomorrow, Thursday, June 1:
THE LOST ARCADE
Director:
Kurt Vincent
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, IFF Boston, Melbourne, Sidewalk
About:
A love letter to NYC’s Chinatown Fair.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30:
BEHEMOTH
Director:
Zhao Liang
Premiere:
Venice 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, New Directors/New Films, Dubai, True/False, DocAviv, Moscow, Sheffield, Melbourne, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Istanbul
About:
A poetic meditation on the environmental impact of China’s rapid economic development.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 29:
FARMER/VETERAN
Directors:
Alix Blair and Jeremy M Lange
Premiere:
Dallas 2016
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Big Sky Doc, Cucalorus, Sidewalk, Hot Springs Doc, Brooklyn
About:
An Iraq War veteran finds solace in farming more than from the scores of meds he is prescribed.
Alex is a 32 year old retired US Army Staff Sergeant suffering from PTSD who has turned to farming a small plot of land with his fiancee and eventual wife, Jessica. Shaken after three tours of duty in Iraq, he confesses to having psychotic thoughts, worries about harming the incredibly patient and supportive Jessica, and harbors delusions about his time in the service. Although the couple, and Alex in particular, initially take to farming, its challenges – and those of his mental health concerns – start to catch up with them. Blair and Lange sensitively and compellingly capture their subjects, and the difficult transition from soldier to civilian.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, May 26:
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: ADIOS
Director:
Lucy Walker
Premiere:
May 2017
About:
The Grammy Award-winning musicians who engendered worldwide interest in Cuban music take a final tour.
I previously profiled the doc when it was originally scheduled to debut at Sundance this past January here. It was unexpectedly withdrawn from the festival before its premiere, reportedly due to post-production delays.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Masters tomorrow, Friday, May 26:
JACQUES PÉPIN: THE ART OF CRAFT
Director:
Peter L Stein
Premiere:
American Masters (May 2017)
About:
A celebration of the acclaimed French chef and his impact on American food culture.
Stein’s entry into the long-running PBS biography series hews close to its conventions, but despite some minor superfluous re-enactments, still manages to serve up an appealing overview of Jacques Pépin’s life and culinary career. The film traces his path from apprentice work in Lyon, success as a young chef in Paris, and appointment to serve French heads of state, only to risk everything by leaving for New York City. Successfully re-establishing himself in a foreign land, he surprisingly declined multiple invitations to serve as the Kennedy White House chef in favor of taking on the challenge of running a test kitchen for Howard Johnson’s. A near-fatal auto accident a decade later set Pépin off on yet another path, putting him in the spotlight as a food writer and television host, and inspiring generations of professional and amateur chefs with his attention to the mastery of the fundamental techniques of cookery. Stein capably covers the culinary icon’s achievements, even as a minor stroke begrudgingly slows down the affable and now octogenarian Pépin from his active schedule of travel and appearances.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres and to VOD via Netflix tomorrow, Friday, May 26:
JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS SUPERPOWER
Director:
Joe Piscatella
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Human Rights Watch London, Hot Docs,
About:
The story of an unlikely champion for Hong Kong’s sovereignty from China.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres across the US for tonight only, Thursday, May 25, and through June 2 in NYC/LA:
LONG STRANGE TRIP
Director:
Amir Bar-Lev
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
True/False, SXSW, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Full Frame,
About:
An epic history of the legendary Grateful Dead.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
New to DVD this week:
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL
Director:
Pascal Plisson
Premiere:
Champs-Elysées 2013
Select Festivals:
Locarno, COLCOA LA, Athens, Mill Valley, Portland,
About:
Kids from Kenya, Morocco, Argentina, and India walk hours just to go to school.
Plisson’s earnest project aims to educate viewers of the challenges faced by children around the world in seeking basic education. To that end, he follows four tykes on treacherous trips to school which in some cases take four hours, traverse punishing terrain, and run afoul of dangerous wild animals. It’s well-meaning family programming, but this overly slick production is clearly scripted and stretches its concept ridiculously thin, eschewing providing any substantive information – or proper sense of personality – about its subjects in favor of milking as much audience sympathy as possible from the premise.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
