Category Archives: Releases

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15: JOURNEY TO PLANET X

Myles Kane and Josh Koury’s look at a pair of amateur sci-fi filmmakers had its world premiere at Tribeca in 2012. It went on to screen at Denver, Traverse City, Sitges, Camden, Cucalorus, and Chicago Underground, among others. FilmBuff now brings the film to iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Movies on Demand, and other VOD platforms.

I previously wrote about the doc out of Tribeca here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, April 14: THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI

Bill Siegel’s exploration of Ali’s conscientious objection from serving in Vietnam made its debut at Tribeca last year. Its fest circuit included Seattle, Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Melbourne, and Montclair, among many others, before a limited theatrical and later VOD release.

I included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.

Coming to theatres this Friday, April 11: A FRAGILE TRUST: PLAGIARISM, POWER, AND JAYSON BLAIR AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

Samantha Grant’s indepth examination of the notorious newspaper scandal made its debut at Sheffield last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, the Hamptons, Hawaii, Denver, Big Sky, Thessaloniki, Atlanta, Sebastopol Doc, and Cleveland, among others.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program saying:
In 2003, it was revealed that New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was a plagiarist, regularly cobbling together his articles from others found on the Internet or otherwise fabricating facts. This precipitated the lowest point in the Grey Lady’s history, leading to an editorial regime change, resignations, and a review of hiring practices. Samantha Grant goes straight to the source, securing interviews with Blair and his former colleagues to reveal the complex interplay of power, race, ambition and competition at the heart of the story.

Coming to theatres this Friday, April 11: DANCING IN JAFFA

Hilla Medalia’s look at the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through pre-teen ballroom dance made its debut at Tribeca last year. It went on to screen at DocAviv, Sydney, Munich, and Jewish fests in Miami, Boston, London, Palm Beach, Calgary, San Francisco, DC, and elsewhere.

I previously included the doc in my Tribeca coverage here.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 8: BAYOU BLUE

Alix Lambert and David McMahon’s serial killer investigation debuted at IDFA in 2011. It went on to screen at New Orleans, BFI London, and Poland’s American film fest, among others.

Between 1997 and 2006, Ronald Dominique raped and murdered more than twenty men in Louisiana. Most of his victims were African American, gay, and poor, marginalized men who rarely commanded the attention of either law enforcement or the media – unless they themselves were breaking the law – enabling Dominique to continue his killing spree. Exacerbating this bias was the chaos that ensued due to Hurricane Katrina, straining already overtaxed resources in the state. Lambert and McMahon return with local police to the scenes of Dominique’s crimes to reconstruct the case, interview family members about the victims, and question how and why issues of race, regionalism, homophobia, and class prevented what seems to have had the sensationalistic potential to captivate a national audience – possibly enabling Dominique’s apprehension far earlier – from being more than a small, local concern.

Coming to DVD this coming Tuesday, April 8: I AM DIVINE

Jeffrey Schwarz’s love letter to the infamous star of John Waters’ trash cinema had its world premiere at SXSW last year. Its fest circuit also included New Orleans’ Film-O-Rama, Cleveland, Nashville, Sheffield, Sydney, and Provincetown, Inside Out, Frameline, and Outfest.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 4: THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN

Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s mesmerizing stranger-than-fiction island murder mystery made its debut last year at Telluride. It went on to screen at the Hamptons, Berlin, New Orleans filmOrama, Palm Springs, Vail, and Bermuda, among others.

Goldfine and Geller recount the strange story of Floreana, an uninhabited island of the Galapagos – until a pair of Germans – Dr Friedrich Ritter, and his patient and partner, Dore Strauch – showed up in 1929, seeking an escape from civilization. Viewed as curiosities, reports of their life on the island spread by visiting seaman to newspapers internationally, eventually drawing fellow Germans Heinz and Margret Wittmer in 1931. Though the first couple had viewed Floreana as theirs exclusively, they begrudgingly helped the Wittmers when pregnant Margaret gave birth to their son, but largely kept to their own side of the island. The uneasy equilibrium the Germans tried to maintain was completely upset, however, when Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet arrived, an Austrian who claimed to be a Baroness. With two lovers in tow, the grandstanding Baroness announced her plans to build a hotel and turn Floreana into a tourist destination – anathema to the rest of the island’s inhabitants. These competing philosophies set up a powderkeg on the island, and what follows is contested, but serves as the crux of Goldfine and Geller’s intriguing history, which is further peppered with the unique experiences of modern-day Galapagos residents.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, April 7: BROTHERS HYPNOTIC

Reuben Atlas’ look at the band formed by the sons of a legendary jazz musician had its world premiere at SXSW last year. It went on to screen at Hot Docs, Montclair, Los Angeles, Urbanworld, Antenna, Sound Unseen, RIDM, Pan African, Big Sky, and Noise Pop, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 1: AN UNREAL DREAM: THE MICHAEL MORTON STORY

Al Reinert’s chronicle of a wrongful criminal conviction debuted at SXSW last year, where it picked up an audience award. It also screened at Human Rights Watch, Dallas Videofest, Amnesty International Human Rights fest, and the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, and was broadcast on CNN last December.

In 1987, Austin resident Michael Morton found himself sentenced to life for the murder of his wife, Chris, which took place the day after his birthday, allegedly, prosecutors argued, because she denied him sex. Despite his unwavering claims of innocence and the lack of a murder weapon, some dodgy and since-discredited science made him the sole suspect, with the lead investigator’s files never released to his defense attorney. The case haunted the latter for years, who turned to the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to using DNA testing to help exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. They, together with a respected Houston attorney, faced stonewalling from the prosecution and police, but ultimately proved victorious, gaining access to exculpatory evidence that saw Morton freed. Reinert’s restrained but effective telling of this increasingly enraging tale of injustice hinges on the participation of Morton himself, a remarkably peaceful presence, who recounts his ordeal from the very courthouse in which he was sentenced, aided by interviews from prison friends, and, most affectingly, the son who grew up believing his father had killed his mother – and whose suppressed eyewitness report of the murder at the age of 3 unexpectedly proves to be a significant lead to his father’s eventual exoneration.