Category Archives: Releases

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, November 1: MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER

Jin Mo-young’s tender look at an aging couple debuted at DMZ Docs in 2014. Screenings followed at Hot Docs, Los Angeles, Tempo Doc, Visions du Reel, DocAviv, Sydney, BFI London, RIDM, DOK Leipzig, Moscow, Hamptons, and the New York Asian fests, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to DVD this week: DARWIN

Nick Brandestini’s profile of residents in a secluded Death Valley community made its bow at Santa Barbara in 2011. Screenings followed at Big Sky, Documentary Edge, DOXA, DocAviv, Karlovy Vary, Zurich, BFI London, Hot Springs Doc, Bergen, RIDM, and Telluride Mountainfilm, among several others.

I previously included the film in my coverage of Karlovy Vary here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, November 1: AN HONEST LIAR

Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s surprising profile of a professional skeptic debuted at Tribeca in 2014. Its fest circuit also included Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Provincetown, Bergen, Denver, Reykjavik, Palm Springs, AFI Docs, Outfest, Big Sky, Cleveland, Napa Valley, and Key West, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, October 31: WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS

Beth Murphy’s inside look at an Afghan girl’s school had its world premiere at Hot Docs this year after work-in-progress screenings at Nantucket and Human Rights Watch. Other screenings have included Camden, Woods Hole, Newburyport Doc, and Austin.

I wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Under the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan, girls were denied an education and women were not permitted to teach, resulting in a generation deprived of a future. While the ouster of the Taliban corrected this injustice, the group’s continued influence threatens the strides made in girls’ education. Director Beth Murphy takes us inside the Zabuli Education Center, the first all-girls’ school in a small, conservative village in the Deh’Subz district whose elders approach the idea with some trepidation. The film follows founder Razia Jan as she attempts to ease their concerns, and also focuses on three students and two female teachers, each reflecting the challenges and hopes that education offers for Afghanistan’s female population.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, October 28: BY SIDNEY LUMET

Nancy Buirski’s tribute to the acclaimed director debuted at Cannes last year. Screenings followed at Tribeca, Jerusalem, Deauville, Full Frame, Traverse City, Austin, Mumbai, the Hamptons, and at Jewish fests in Atlanta, Toronto, and Philadelphia, among other events.

Filmed before Lumet’s death, the prolific director serves as the only voice in Biurski’s portrait, save, of course, for those of his various characters, presented here via numerous clips. Eschewing a dry chronological review, the film instead is more organically organized by the themes that re-emerge across Lumet’s oeuvre. While the director himself denies a conscious seeking out of these connections, their presentation here is thoughtful and well-executed, presenting audiences with the scope of Lumet’s work but still teasing out the commonalities. For his part, Lumet offers a matter-of-fact appraisal of his films, peppered with the occasional anecdote and biographical history, such as the harrowing memory experienced in India which bookends the doc, and, in many ways, informs the key moral concerns evinced in his movies. Buirski’s admirable project will no doubt direct several viewers to reacquaint themselves with films like 12 ANGRY MEN, RUNNING ON EMPTY, and LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT to witness the master in action.