Coming to theatres this Friday, July 20: THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Lauren Greenfield’s portrait of privilege facing the Recession made its premiere at this year’s Sundance, where it won the US Documentary Directing Award. Its gone on to screen at a number of other fests, including Los Angeles, RiverRun, Provincetown, and Karlovy Vary.
I wrote about the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 17: PATAGONIA RISING
Brian Lilla’s exploration of the environmental and societal impact of a proposed hydroelectric plan made its premiere at Newport Beach last year. After a festival circuit that included multiple Chilean fests as well as the Hot Springs and San Francisco doc fests, the film enjoyed a limited release earlier this Summer.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical return here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD next Tuesday, July 17: MANSOME
Morgan Spurlock brought his look at 21st century masculinity to Tribeca this spring for its world premiere before releasing theatrically via Paladin the next month. The doc now becomes available on iTunes, Amazon, and Movies On Demand.
I wrote about the film out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, July 17: BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT
Dave LaMattina and Chad N Walker’s documentation of cross-cultural exchange between Brooklyn and Sierra Leone made its world premiere in Sarasota in 2010. Its festival circuit has included spots in San Francisco, Seattle, Brooklyn, Aspen, Tallinn Black Nights, and Toronto’s TIFF Kids fest.
On the surface, it wouldn’t seem there’s much in common between a bunch of 11- and 12-year-old kids from Bed-Stuy and slightly older ones in Freetown, Sierra Leone, a country still recovering from a decade-long civil war – but, at one point in time, both places were basically given up as lost to violence and poverty. A pen pal program between two schools more than 4000 miles apart serves as a bridge for its students to learn about each other, providing insight and fostering inspiration. LaMattina and Walker profile a number of engaging students on both sides of the Atlantic, but the film is most affecting when detailing how the Brooklyn kids, their eyes opened to the conditions their new friends face due to lack of basic resources, come together to raise funds for the Freetown school. It’s the simple, but profound, lesson that they can make a difference that makes this doc worth checking out, especially for parents to share with their kids – and suggests it should have a strong life in educational markets.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres nationwide for one night only* next Wednesday, July 18: SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS
Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s requiem to LCD Soundsystem premiered at Sundance this year. It went on to screen as part of the inaugural Sundance London program, as well as at SXSW, Ambulante, and Hot Docs.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
*Due to high demand, additional screenings have been added in some theatres, including additional playdates in places like NYC’s Landmark Sunshine.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres and VOD this Friday, July 13: BALLPLAYER: PELOTERO
Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Paley’s exploration of Dominican baseball dreams had its world premiere at last year’s Hamptons. Its gone on to screen in Miami, Cleveland, Sarasota, and the IFF Boston, among others.
Despite being approximately the size of South Carolina, the Dominican Republic leads Major League Baseball as the source of more foreign-born players than any other country, accounting for 11% of the overall rosters, and 39% of those foreign-born according to most recent statistics. This is no accident – MLB has invested heavily in the island, setting up a training and recruitment program to try to identify the most promising players for a career in the big leagues. For the best players, this career begins annually on July 2nd, when pro contracts are offered, provided the athletes are great and show potential to become exceptional, are a minimum of 16 years old, and, as demonstrated in Finkel, Martin, and Paley’s film, figure out a way to work within the flawed and sometimes even outright corrupt system. The doc focuses on two hopefuls, Miguel Angel, a talented shortstop whose age and identity are called into question; and Jean Carlos, a cocky player whose expectations of instant millionaire status face a stark reality check; as well as their coaches, who train their charges for an expected, and lucrative, commission – their financial future intertwined with the young men for good or bad. A doc on baseball, and, more specifically, the politics of MLB recruitment and contracts, is not something I’d typically ever be drawn to – beyond my general disinterest in sports docs, I find baseball to be excruciatingly boring – but, thankfully, this is no straightforward baseball doc. The characters are the key, with a clear sense provided of what (economic) success in the sport means for their families’ and their own futures, while the backroom negotiations offer a sobering look into yet another example of economic exploitation of another culture to the benefit of a superior power.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, July 13: THE IMPOSTER
Bart Layton’s stranger than fiction story of an improbable impersonation premiered at Sundance. Its festival circuit has included Seattle, BAMcinemafest, Edinburgh, and Miami, taking a jury prize at the latter.
I profiled the film before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s AMC 25 this Friday, July 13 with a national release to follow: FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK & WHITE
Julia Ivanova premiered her portrait of a Ukrainian woman and her more than twenty foster children – most biracial in a racist society – at Sundance last year. The film’s festival circuit has included the Hamptons, Vancouver, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Hot Docs, winning an award at the latter.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 10 and screening at this year’s event in San Diego on Thursday, July 12: COMIC-CON: EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE
Morgan Spurlock premiered his multi-character look at the various facets of the annual comic/genre/film fan convention at Toronto last year. Additional fest followed, leading up to a limited theatrical release as well as a VOD release. Spurlock will take part in a Q&A with special guests after a screening at this year’s Comic-Con this week.
I previously wrote about the film out of Toronto here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, July 10: FIGHTVILLE
Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein premiered their film on Mixed Martial Arts at SXSW last year. Its festival circuit included Hot Docs, Woodstock, Doc NYC, IDFA, and Abu Dhabi. It has had a limited theatrical run and is also available on VOD.
I included the film in my SXSW roundup here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
