Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 1: SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY
Mary Dore’s chronicle of women’s liberation’s early years debuted at Sarasota in 2014. Its fest circuit has included DOC NYC, Virginia, St Louis, Milwaukee, Cucalorus, and IFF Boston, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week: WHY I’M NOT ON FACEBOOK
Brant Pinvidic’s exploration of the popular social networking site had its world premiere at Woodstock in 2014. It also screened at smaller events like the SF Indie and Manhattan film fests.
Pinvidic addresses the titular scenario on the eve of his son’s thirteenth birthday, the age when the latter becomes eligible to open a Facebook account – which he definitely wants to have. Just why isn’t his dad on the site? Taking a personal approach a la Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker joins Facebook under an assumed name, easily amasses “friends” he’s never met, and serves as the constantly on-screen guide through the pitfalls of the social media age. On a platform that pushes users to share everything – even if prospective employers or college admissions officers might happen to see it – privacy, and, at times, common sense, are things of the past. But anyone who has been awake within the last decade knows this already, and that’s the main problem with Pinvidic’s film: there’s nothing new here – not the sociological or pop psychological analysis, nor the silly, tired pranks he stages, such as trying to get Kathy Griffin’s attention with a giant sign or showing up to the home of a Facebook “friend” he’s never met. Why isn’t he on Facebook? Who cares?
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Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed series tonight, Tuesday, March 1: REVOLUTION ’67
Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno and Jerome Bongiorno’s revisitation of the Newark Riots premiered at Full Frame in 2007. Other screenings included Sarasota, Atlanta, Rhode Island, Newark Black, Dallas Black, and the Langston Hughes African American fests. The doc was originally broadcast on POV in July 2007 and makes a return to public television as the WORLD Channel continues its focus on civil rights in America.
Over the course of six days in July 1967, frustration and anger amongst Newark’s African American population boiled over after reports spread that policemen had beat a black taxi driver to death for a minor traffic violation. By the end of the uprising, more than two dozen people had died, property damage was extensive, and the city was irrevocably changed. Through the testimony of several individuals who were in Newark at the time, archival footage, and animation and graphics that frankly haven’t aged well since the film’s debut, the Bongiornos recreate this tumultuous event. In the process, the commentators lay bare the inequities and systemic abuses that precipitated the eruption, grounding them not only in issues of racism and control, but, just as importantly, in questions of poverty and economic justice. While conventionally constructed, the doc, though focused on the past, remains unfortunately all too topical for the present.
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Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 1: SUNSHINE SUPERMAN
Marah Strauch’s chronicle of the origins of BASE jumping had its premiere at Toronto in 2014. It went on to screen at the New York Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard, Sarasota, Montclair, Cleveland, Vancouver, and Florida fests, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 1: FINDING GASTON
Patricia Perez’s exploration of a country through its cuisine debuted at San Sebastian last year. Other fest screenings have included Napa Valley, Miami, Cine+Mas SF Latino, and the NYC Food Film fests.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan CineMatters series tonight, Tuesday, March 1: THE GOOD SON
Shirly Berkowitz’s portrait of a transgender woman’s unorthodox transition made its bow at IDFA in 2013. The film went on to screen at Thessaloniki Doc, Planete+ Doc, DocsBarcelona, Myanmar Human Rights, and Jewish fests in Washington, Maine, and Australia, among others.
Ever feeling an outcast, Or, a young Israeli man, finally comes to the realization of her transgender identity. Faced with conservative parents and lacking in funds to have gender reassignment surgery in Bangkok, she makes the desperate decision to fake an acceptance letter to Oxford University in order to scam the financial support from her proud mother and father – secretly filming all the while. Turning to Berkowitz to help shape the very rough material, and to accompany her as a friendly face in Thailand, the director continues filming, capturing Or’s physical transformation and gradual blossoming in her new identity. Pivotally, Berkowitz also follows her subject back to Israel where she must face her fears to confront her family, admit her subterfuge, and make amends, which helps redeem a subject and a project with decidedly problematic ethics.
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Coming to VOD today, Monday, February 29: HEART OF A DOG
Laurie Anderson’s musings on life and death had its world premiere at Telluride last year. Screenings followed at Venice, Toronto, San Sebastian, New York, Adelaide, and Chicago, among other events. The film was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature of 2015. It now comes to VOD on iTunes.
I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’ American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, March 1: SPACE MEN
Amanda Pollak’s look back at the long-forgotten experiments that helped lead to space makes its debut on the acclaimed public television series.
While the names Sputnik, Yuri Gargarin, Apollo 8, and Mercury 7 will forever be linked to early space exploration in the minds of the general public, that likely can’t be said for John Paul Stapp, David Simons, Joseph Kittinger, Manhigh, or Excelsior. For a period in the late 1950s through 1960, however, these men and their high-altitude Air Force projects involving balloons would garner high-profile coverage in publications like Life and The New York Times, and their early designation as “Space Men.” Pollak uncovers their fascinating story, which was eventually overshadowed by the growth of NASA and its corresponding lion’s share of government funding and international press. In the process, the film demonstrates how their experiments proved pivotal in the development of the nascent space program, providing experiential data that pushed the boundaries of what humans were thought to be able to withstand, physically and mentally, in the unknown terrain of space.
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Coming to Independent Lens tonight, Monday, February 29: WILHEMINA’S WAR
June Cross’ look at life with HIV in the rural American South had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. It has also screened at LA’s Pan African and Black Hollywood film fests.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
While the perception of AIDS in America has changed from the death sentence it once was to a disease managed by medicine, in the deep South, HIV continues to claim the lives of rural black women in epidemic numbers. Despite facing institutional and personal obstacles every step of the way, 62-year-old Wilhemina Dixon works tirelessly to combat the stigma and care for her daughter and granddaughter, both HIV+.
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Coming to the National Geographic Channel tonight, Monday, February 29: HE NAMED ME MALALA
Davis Guggenheim’s portrait of the girls’ education activist debuted at Telluride last year. The film went on to screen at DOC NYC, Toronto, Tokyo, Mumbai, Adelaide, London, Hamptons, and Athena, among other events. It was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar of 2015.
The story of Malala Yousafzai made worldwide headlines after the Taliban shot the outspoken Pakistani teenager – and several of her friends – for daring to defy a ban on education for girls in her native Swat Valley. She recovered from her injuries to continue her mission, despite a threat of further violence if she returned to Pakistan, writing a best-selling book, making numerous media appearances, and speaking all over the world, addressing heads of states and other influential global figures – and capturing the attention of the Nobel Prize nominating committee in the process. While Guggenheim covers this familiar terrain, his focus is more personal, as signaled by the film’s title, which references Malala’s father, an educator who also found himself on the Taliban’s target list for speaking out against their repressive policies, and who named his daughter after an Afghan folk hero who sacrificed herself to rally her people. Combined with animated sequences that flesh out significant episodes in her past, interviews with and about her father offer an intriguing context for the young woman’s activism.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 