Category Archives: Releases

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 5: AMERICAN COMANDANTE

Adriana Bosch’s profile of an American embroiled in the Cuban Revolution premiered on PBS as part of American Experience this past Fall.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 5: A BRAVE HEART: THE LIZZIE VELASQUEZ STORY

Sara Hirsch Bordo’s profile of an unexpected activist bowed at SXSW last year, where it won an audience award. The film’s fest circuit has included Traverse City, Newport Beach, Rhode Island, Lower East Side, and Bentonville, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

About a week ago, Nonfics posted the results of their Best Documentary of 2015 poll. The overall results may be found here.

My list appears at the very end of that article, which I’m reproducing below as well. I’ve restricted my list to nonfiction features that have been officially released in 2015, omitting festival favorites that have not yet been made commercially available as of yet.

Before 2015 fades into memory, here are pointers to what I’ve previously written about my top fifteen docs of the year on what (not) to doc. The films are unranked and in alphabetical order:

ALMOST THERE

AMY

BEST OF ENEMIES

CARTEL LAND

DEMOCRATS

DREAMCATCHER

HEART OF A DOG

IN JACKSON HEIGHTS

LISTEN TO ME MARLON

THE LOOK OF SILENCE

MERU

THE RUSSIAN WOODPECKER

WESTERN

WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?

THE WOLFPACK

Coming to PBS tonight, Wednesday, December 30: IN DEFENSE OF FOOD

Michael Schwartz’s adaptation of Michael Pollan’s bestseller about healthy eating had its world premiere at Mill Valley this Fall. The doc has also screened at the Austin, Life Sciences, and Feast on This film fests.

In interviews and a filmed live stage presentation, the likeable Pollan serves as a guide through the minefield of information, misinformation, and marketing that has served to confuse our comprehension of what we should – and shouldn’t eat – for decades, and, consequently, has led to an obesity epidemic and a litany of health problems for consumers of the typical western diet. Early on, he reveals that the solution is surprisingly simple, concisely put as: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” That’s food, in contrast to what he refers to as heavily processed “foodlike substances;” moderate amounts, rather than fall for super-sized marketing and other more subtle factors; and a vegetable-heavy diet, with meat and other typical staples the exception rather than the rule. The straightforward filmmaking approach, and Pollan’s compelling reasoning, make for an easily digestible, if conventional, public television documentary that might encourage viewers to make some sensible changes in their relationship to food.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, December 28: HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA

Steven Okazaki’s candid profile of opiate addiction in a small community makes its debut on the cable network after preview community screenings in Boston and on the Cape.

A response to the alarming growth of cases of heroin overdose, addiction, and drug-related crimes in a community typically known as an idyllic summer vacation destination, Okazaki’s film takes an intimate look at several locals whose lives have been upended by the drug. Though the director dispenses some disturbing statistics and facts – such as the overprescription rates of opiate-based painkillers like oxycontin and their role as gateway drugs to cheaper, more easily available heroin – the strength of the film is in its frank profiling of users. These young people – reflecting the community, they are nearly all white, some seemingly fairly well-off, with supportive families – cycle through various rehab centers or sober houses on and off the Cape, struggle with recovery, and eventually relapse. Willing to appear on camera at their worst, they express frustration and pessimism as they speak openly about their inability to kick their addiction and the depths they’ve sunk to in order to support it. Occasionally during interviews, without warning, titles appear revealing updates to their stories: relapses, disappearances, and, in a few cases, deaths by overdose. While these shouldn’t be a surprise, they still pack a gutpunch, reflecting the empathy Okazaki is able to build over a relatively brief running time.