Category Archives: Releases

Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 1: SWEET DREAMS

Rob and Lisa Fruchtman’s inspirational story of a troupe of Rwandan drummers-turned-entrepreneurs had its world premiere last year at Silverdocs. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Mill Valley, IDFA, Margaret Mead, DocPoint, Big Sky, Thessaloniki Doc, Ashland, and DOXA, among others.

I previously included the film in my Thessaloniki Doc coverage here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 1: MUSICWOOD

Maxine Trump’s look at the impact of deforestation on the acoustic guitar made its debut at DOC NYC last year. It went on to screen at Big Sky, Cleveland, Sarasota, Yale’s Environmental fest, Nashville, DOXA, and Bonnaroo, among several other fests.

I previously wrote about the film out of DOC NYC here.

Coming to PBS’ Independent Lens this coming Monday, November 4: THE GRADUATES/LOS GRADUADOS – BOYS

Bernardo Ruiz’s look at the Latino/a high school dropout crisis concludes its PBS bow with the second of two hour-long docs. Both have screened at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and will continue to be made available at community screenings.

Ruiz’s contribution to the AMERICAN GRADUATE initiative profiles six Latino/a teens who have struggled with school, emblematic of the challenges faced by their peers around the country. This second film focuses on three young men, statistically more at-risk for dropping out than their female counterparts. As in the first film, Ruiz selects geographically diverse subjects, underscoring the permeation the Latino/a population has made throughout the country. Eduardo, from San Diego, serves as an inspiring figure, able, with the fortunate support of a mentor, to escape gang life, go to college, and become a role model in return. The frustrations and aspirations of DREAMers are represented by Gustavo, who was brought to Georgia from Mexico at nine years old, and became an outspoken activist to ensure the future of his education. The third subject, Juan, considered dropping out, largely because of feelings of isolation due to his sexuality, ultimately finding support through the performing arts. While Juan is sympathetic, his story, beyond reflecting the general diversity of the Latino/a community, sticks out because it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the specific concerns of Latino/a students. While there’s some discussion of his mother’s devout Christianity, and brief mentions of Latino machismo, the larger impact of his ethnic and cultural identity on his sexuality is lacking. Still, taken as a whole, Ruiz’s project drives home the point that these young subjects, and the countless others they represent, make up a significant part of the fabric of modern America, and their educational performance can either contribute to this country’s future success or hasten its failure.

Coming to PBS’ Independent Lens this coming Monday, October 28: THE GRADUATES/LOS GRADUADOS – GIRLS

Bernardo Ruiz’s exploration of the experiences of Latino/a youth in high school makes its debut on PBS over two consecutive weeks. The two films have been previewed at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival as well as at community screenings across the country. Critically, the series will be presented bilingually, making it accessible to wider audiences.

Produced as part of the AMERICAN GRADUATE initiative, which aims to assist local communities in addressing the dropout crisis, Ruiz’s films focus on the diverse and specific challenges faced by Latino/a students in America’s high schools. Noting studies that have found that one-third of Latino students don’t graduate from high school on time, Ruiz seeks to illuminate why through candid testimony from a small group of students. The first hour focuses on female students, with next week’s spotlighting young Latino males. The three young women represent different parts of the country, and different concerns – Darlene, from Tulsa OK, saw few options in school and set out to create her own family, becoming a teen mother; Stephanie views education as a way out of her dangerous Southside Chicago neighborhood, leading to her involvement in school activities; and Chastity, from the Bronx, has struggled with feeling responsible for taking care of her family, which has faced homeless more than once. Permitted to tell their own stories, these three subjects humanize common factors that contribute to the dropout rate – unsupportive or under-resourced schools, the lures and dangers of drugs and gangs, and familial pressures borne out of economic necessity – making what otherwise may seem to be amorphous excuses into something both concrete and sympathetic.

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 22: TRASH DANCE

Andrew Garrison’s chronicle of the transformation of sanitation work into spectacle debuted at SXSW last year, where it received a special jury mention. It went on to screen at Full Frame, Silverdocs, and Woods Hole, picking up audience awards at each, as well as New Orleans, DocuWest, Warsaw, Heartland, DOXA, Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera, and Sedona, among others. The Orchard now releases the film on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, and Vudu.

Set in Austin TX, Garrison’s film follows an unexpected collaboration between choreographer Allison Orr and the city’s sanitation department that results in a one-night only mechanistic ballet of garbage trucks and the unheralded workers who keep the city clean. While the sold-out performance serves as the successful end of Orr’s project, what’s equally, or perhaps more, compelling are her research ridealongs and interviews with the skeptical, primarily African American and Latino/a garbagemen and -women whom she tries to convince to participate in the unorthodox project. To paraphrase one of the men, “what does this short-haired white lady want with us?” Orr’s full answer is wisely withheld until the film’s end, allowing the audience to recognize for themselves her motives in shining a spotlight on an often denigrated, but absolutely essential profession.