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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Doc World this Sunday, October 30: SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI: MY ATOMIC AUNT
Kyoko Miyake’s personal reflection on the Fukushima disaster debuted at Hamburg in 2013. Other festival play has included Dok Leipzig, EBS Doc, and DocPoint.
Miyake’s family hails from Namie, a fishing village whose residents reluctantly supported the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant when faced with a declining local industry. In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and nuclear accident, Namie has become a ghost town. Miyake follows her Aunt Kuniko back to the village to revisit her home and her various businesses – which included a funeral home, wedding planning business, and bakery – left abandoned in the aftermath. Part of the older generation turned atomic refugees, Kuniko has been slow to accept the reality that she won’t be able to return and rebuild her community and sources of livelihood. As Kuniko faces the harsh facts while surveying the damage, her experiences prompt Miyake’s own reckoning with the benefits and risks of nuclear power. The film is strongest when it’s focused on Kuniko, an appealing presence and point of identification; it falters in indulging too much of the filmmaker’s musings, which drag the proceedings down.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week: GLEASON
Clay Tweel’s portrait of life after ALS debuted at Sundance this year. It went on to screen at Nantucket, Hot DocsSXSW, AFI Docs, Seattle, Montclair, IFF Boston, Full Frame, and the upcoming DOC NYC as part of the Short List. It is now available on VOD via Amazon and iTunes.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, Ocotber 28: GIMME DANGER
Jim Jarmusch’s chronicle of The Stooges debuted at Cannes. Screenings followed at Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Austin, New Zealand, Sydney, Melbourne, Sarajevo, Helsinki, Mill Valley, Rio, Adelaide, Woodstock, and Leeds, among other events.
Jarmusch crafts a loving tribute to the proto-punk rock band fronted by Iggy Pop which played between 1967 and 1974 before disbanding. Performing to often hostile audiences more interested in Pop’s wild antics than the music, their albums were commercial and critical flops. Plagued with drug addictions, the band displayed erratic behavior and grew so undependable that they were soon dropped from their major label, Elektra, followed by their dissolution. In later years, however, buoyed by the cleaned-up Pop’s successful solo career, The Stooges were re-evaluated by music critics, and were cited as important influences on several bands, including the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, helping to bring attention to the underrated band, which now holds legendary status. The film brings together Pop and surviving bandmates to provide an anecdote-filled oral history of their time together, well-illustrated with archival performance and photographs. While addressing factors that fractured the band, like their addictions, discussion of the impact of Pop’s solo stardom is largely ignored, a conspicuous omission given the paths the rest of The Stooges followed after their breakup and before the band’s late reunion in 2003. Ultimately, Jarmusch’s affectionate if somewhat conventional tribute will best be appreciated by pre-existing fans, even if it may inspire a few younger viewers to explore their music history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, October 28: UNDERFIRE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PFC TONY VACCARO
Max Lewkowicz’s look at a WWII soldier’s photographic chronicle of the war debuted at Shanghai. Other festival appearances have included Margaret Mead, Tallgrass, Edmonton, San Diego, and GZDOC.
Tony Vaccaro spent about a year as a part of the US Army’s 83rd Infantry, beginning with the invasion of Normandy up to the end of the war. Drafted right after high school, he had an interest in photography, but was too young to be assigned to the Signal Corps, which oversaw combat photography. Instead, he used his own camera, shooting nearly 8000 images, even developing negatives himself in Army helmets using chemicals found in bombed out photography shops. Deeply affected by his experiences, Vaccaro, who became a professional photographer, never took another combat photo. He put away his WWII images upon returning to civilian life, not releasing them publicly until the 1990s, when they became lauded among historians and photographers alike. Lewkowicz follows the now 93-year-old as he returns to Europe, shares his thoughts on his war experiences, and reveals the stories behind several of his photographs, making for a compelling and poignant consideration of the nature and impact of war.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to National Geographic this Sunday, October 30: BEFORE THE FLOOD
Fisher Stevens’ chronicle of Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental activism premiered at Toronto last month. The film has also screened at BFI London and the Hamptons.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week: INDIAN POINT
Ivy Meeropol’s look at nuclear power plant safety debuted at Tribeca last year. Screenings also included Hot Docs, DC Environmental, Traverse City, Hamptons, St Louis, Big Sky, Thessaloniki Doc, Salem, and Cleveland, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, October 25: PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT
Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s profile of the art world patron debuted at Tribeca last year. Its fest circuit also included Nantucket, AFI Docs, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish, New Zealand, Melbourne, Adelaide, Vancouver, Chicago, and Stockholm, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
