Category Archives: Releases

New to DVD and VOD today, Friday, July 22: SONS OF BEN

Jeffrey C Bell’s chronicle of the ardent fans of a nonexistent sports team debuted at the Tokyo Intl Football Film Festival last year. The doc screened at several other sports fests, including Thinking Football, Off-Side, Kicking + Screening, Berlin’s Fussballfilmfestival, and CineFoot, as well as the Chesapeake film fest. It now comes to DVD and to VOD platforms including iTines, Amazon, and Google Play.

After a previous national soccer league failed, Major League Soccer was formed as a condition of the US’s hosting of the 1994 World Cup, with ten initial teams beginning in 1996. A Philadelphia-based team was not among them, which rankled the city’s passionate soccer fans. Bell’s film reveals the unorthodox steps they took to remedy that situation, as the titular supporters’ club was formed – for a team that did not yet exist. Named after Ben Franklin, and chosen for the appropriate acronym formed, the Sons of Ben began as a desperate, grassroots effort to demonstrate the fanbase for a division one professional soccer team to come to Philadelphia. Founders and early converts detail their promotional activity and unexpected success in paving the way for the Philadelphia Union to join the ranks of MLS. What seems initially likely to become a hopelessly padded, insider-focused talking heads fest ends up changing course to include the intriguing wrinkles of a plan for economic revitalization of the forgotten, largely African-American town of Chester PA as the host of the soccer stadium, and the eleventh-hour arrival of the Great Recession, which threatens to derail all plans. These elements help broaden the film’s appeal into an underdog story that should resonate beyond a small subset of sports fans.

Coming to theatres this Friday, July 22: THE SEVENTH FIRE

Jack Pettibone Riccobono’s intimate exploration of Native American gang life made its bow at Berlin last year. Additional screenings have included New Orleans, Palm Springs, Documenta Madrid, Mar del Plata, Stockholm, Minneapolis-St Paul, Big Sky, Hawaii, Iran’s Cinema Vérité, and East End.

Riccobono’s artfully filmed portrait is set on the White Earth Reservation in Pine Point MN, and focuses on two men: Rob Brown, a longtime gang leader facing his fifth stint in prison, and Kevin, a teenager who’s on the same path in their impoverished, dead-end community. Urging the boy not to accept that drugs and criminality are inevitable, Brown also faces the consequences of his own actions, including being separated from his young daughter. Offering a candid, and often bleak, look at the continuing cycles of poverty, neglect, and abuse present in Native communities, the film nevertheless does offer room for hope as its young protagonists try to find a path forward.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, July 19: BACK ON BOARD: GREG LOUGANIS

Cheryl Furjanic’s profile of the Olympic diver debuted at AFI Docs in 2014. Screening berths followed at DOC NYC, New Orleans, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Big Sky, Cleveland, Hot Springs Doc, Frameline, Outfest, and several fests on the LGBT circuit. The doc is now available on VOD via iTunes and Amazon.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19: MISSION CONGO

Lara Zizic and David Turner’s investigation into a charity’s alleged fraudulent activity debuted at Toronto in 2013. The film went on to screen at DOC NYC, IDFA, Sarasota, and Florida. It now comes to VOD via FilmBuff.

I previously included the doc in my Toronto coverage here.

Coming to DVD next Tuesday, July 19: SKY LINE

Miguel Drake-McLaughlin and Jonny Leahan’s exploration of the practical implementation of a sci-fi concept had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. It has also screened at the Princeton and Washington DC Environmental fests and was released on VOD by FilmBuff last year.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its VOD release here.

Coming to VOD today, Friday, July 15: HUSTLERS CONVENTION

Mike Todd’s exploration of hip-hop’s roots debuted at Sheffield last year. The film came stateside to screen at DOC NYC, Harlem, and the San Francisco Black fests before its broadcast debut this past February. It now comes to VOD via iTunes.

I previously wrote about the film here.