Coming to theatres this Friday, May 2: UNCLAIMED
Michael Jorgensen’s investigation into the potential emergence of a long-thought deceased Vietnam vet premiered at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at Sarasota, WorldFest Houston, Kansas, Ft Lauderdale, and Washington DC’s GI fest.
I included the film in my Hot Docs coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 29: APPROVED FOR ADOPTION
Jung and Laurent Boileau’s animated pseudo-doc memoir debuted at the Annecy Animation fest in 2012. It went on to screen at Gijon, Torino, NY’s Children fest, DocsBarcelona. Sydney, AFI Docs, CPH:DOX, and several animation fests around the world.
I previously wrote about the film out of AFI Docs here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 29: THESE BIRDS WALK
Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq’s exploration of Pakistan’s street children premiered at True/False last year. Its festival circuit also included SXSW, Dallas, BAMcinemaFest, Nashville, Hot Docs, Seattle, and Melbourne, among others.
I previously wrote about the doc out of True/False here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed on the WORLD Channel tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29: COME HELL OR HIGH WATER: THE BATTLE FOR TURKEY CREEK
Leah Mahan’s chronicle of an imperiled community and heritage made its debut at the New Orleans Film Festival last year, where it won the documentary audience award. Other stops have included Washington DC’s Environmental fest and the upcoming SF Green fest.
Filming over a decade, Mahan focuses on Derrick Evans, a Boston-based teacher who is a sixth generation descendant of the freed slaves who formed the coastal Mississippi community of Turkey Creek in the 1860s. When development threatens his old home, including the bulldozing of ancestral graves to accommodate the ever-expanding neighboring city of Gulfport, Evans returns to the South to take a stand and protect not only his roots, but the vibrant wetlands that are threatened. Though initially planning a short-term stay, Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and, later, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, add to the challenges Evans and his neighbors face. While Evans is an appealing protagonist, there’s a bit too much focus placed on him at the expense of the far more intriguing setting and history of Turkey Creek, which begs for further expansion than is provided here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s WNET-Thirteen tonight, Monday, April 28: ZIPPER
Amy Nicholson’s exploration of the transformation of Coney Island debuted at DOC NYC in 2012, where it won a special jury prize. Its fest circuit also included Big Sky, Atlanta, and Montclair before a limited theatrical and VOD release last year.
I previously included the film in my DOC NYC coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, April 28: ALL ABOUT ANN: GOVERNOR RICHARDS OF THE LONE STAR STATE
Keith Patterson and Phillip Schopper’s tribute to the famed Texan politician premiered in an earlier version at Silverdocs in 2012. After being acquired by HBO, the project was remade, premiering earlier this month at Tribeca.
Patterson and Schopper’s film opens with the fiery silver-haired governor’s unforgettable speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention which rightly made her a national figure, before it travels further back in time to reveal Richards’ unlikely path to politics as a progressive Democrat in a traditionally Republican state. While interviews with admirers and colleagues provide occasional context, the late Richards’ herself often tells her own story throughout, via archival press interviews and a copious assortment of media appearances and often hilarious political speeches demonstrating her vision of the “New Texas.” The filmmakers construct a thoroughly engaging play-by-play of three pivotal elections – her election to State Treasurer (the first woman elected to statewide office in decades), her hard-fought gubernatorial run, and her Karl Rove-orchestrated re-election loss to George W Bush. New in this version is the addition of information about Richards’ life after elected office, campaigning for women politicians and working as a lobbyist – though the latter is given only cursory treatment – before her death due to esophageal cancer in 2006.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 25: WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?
Marc Silver’s microcosmic exploration of immigration had its world premiere as a Day One film at Sundance last year, where it claimed the World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, San Sebastian, San Diego Latino, Abu Dhabi, Cork, Zurich, Rome, Miami, and the New York Film Festival, among several others.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres this Friday, April 25: FOR NO GOOD REASON
Charlie Paul’s profile of Gonzo British artist Ralph Steadman premiered at Toronto last year. Its fest circuit has included BFI London, Biografilm, Palm Springs, Florida, Brisbane, CPH:DOX, Minneapolis St Paul, and Dallas, among others.
I included the doc in my Toronto coverage here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Now on DVD: BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL
Mark Mori’s profile of the life and career of the cult pin-up queen made its debut at the Viva Las Vegas Film Festival in 2012. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, New Orleans, CineKink, LA Indie, Hot Springs Doc, and Atlanta, among other events.
Gaining access to Page before her death in 2008, Mori smartly structures his tribute to the 1950s model around her own retelling of her life story, an often gleeful look back that proves infectious to the audience. Having retired in her early thirties, she doesn’t appear on camera, preferring to allow people to remember her in her heyday – a dark-haired beauty with bangs and a curvy physique with a sense of uninhibitedness. Mori illustrates her biography with a copious amount of archival photos and films featuring Page in her prime, along with the occasional comment from admirers or collaborators, including Playboy‘s Hugh Hefner, photographer Bunny Yeager, and artist Greg Theakston, whose fanzine, The Betty Pages, contributed to the resurgence in her popularity in the 1980s.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 22: THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
Bill Siegel’s chronicle of the Greatest’s conscientious objection over Vietnam premiered a year ago at Tribeca. It went on to screen at Seattle, Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Melbourne, and Montclair, among many others.
I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
