Category Archives: Releases

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 24: SIN FRONTERAS/WITHOUT BORDERS

Giorgio Serafini’s look at the plight of deported individuals in Mexico had its premiere at the Atlantic City Cinefest last year.

Mexicali, near the US/Mexico border, is one of the major sites in Mexico where people deported from the US are released. Recognizing that many have no means to make it out of Mexicali, no contacts there, and often not even anywhere else to go to – making them easy prey for criminals – Sergio Tamai opened the Hotel Del Migrante to offer support and shelter. Newly deported individuals may stay for a brief time to get their bearings, or, should they wish to remain on, become volunteers for the hotel and the support group Tamai founded, Angeles Sin Fronteras/Border Angels. When Serafini stays focused on Tamai and the hotel, his doc is its most successful, though still workmanlike at best, but he unfortunately attempts to expand his remit to tackle larger issues around immigration and deportation. The result is a well-intentioned but scattered treatment of a topic that has already been covered extensively elsewhere.

Coming to PBS today, Tuesday, March 24: JAMES BAKER: THE MAN WHO MADE WASHINGTON WORK

Eric Stange’s portrait of the political life of former Secretary of State debuted at Worldfest Houston last year. It now comes to PBS stations around the nation.

Stange and producer John Hesse pull together a remarkable number of political heavy hitters for this interview and narration driven biography, including George and Barbara Bush, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney, Lesley Stahl, Condoleeza Rice, Mikhael Gorbachev, Thomas L Friedman, Colin Powell, Shimon Peres, and narrator Tom Brokaw. While very conventional in its approach, the film is comprehensive and watchable as it recounts Baker’s influential, if often behind-the-scenes, roles in the halls of Washington DC power, including Ford, Reagan, and both Bush administrations, from overseeing the negotiations of the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, to the beginnings of a would-be peace in the Middle East and the strategy that saw George W Bush contentiously claim the White House.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24: BITE SIZE

Corbin Billings’ exploration of childhood obesity premiered at Cinequest last year. The film will also screen at the upcoming TIFF Kids fest. It was released on Vimeo earlier this month and now expands to additional VOD platforms, including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, and VUDU, in addition to its DVD release.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 17: THE FORGOTTEN PLAGUE

Chana Gazit’s historical chronicle of tuberculosis debuted as part of PBS’s American Experience last month.

I previously wrote about the doc here.