Category Archives: Releases

Released on DVD/VOD earlier this week: SHADOW OF AFGHANISTAN 1959-2012

Director Jim Burroughs and Co-Director Suzanne Bauman premiered their comprehensive survey of a half century of Afghanistan’s tumultuous history at Tribeca in 2006. It went on to screen at IDFA and DOCNZ. Additional material has been added since then to bring the film up to date.

Burroughs and Bauman’s film is at once both a crash course in the history of a country that has been significantly tied to the US since the Cold War and a self-reflexive examination of wartime documentary journalism. Incorporating the work of independent journalists who were killed covering the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, and drawing from the experiences of others who survived, the doc serves as a testament to those who have sought to illuminate the truth. While normally I might take issue with the film’s over-reliance on narration, beyond proving largely necessary to keep track of so much information, this instills a directorial presence – one that reminds the viewer of the dangerous work that the filmmakers, and those who came before them, have undertaken. Even more compelling is the participation of Wakil Akbarzai of the National Islamic Front, and Fatima Gailani, of the Afghan Red Crescent, filmed over two decades, as they reflect on the way their nation has been hijacked to serve different agendas, and how its people have suffered as a result.

Coming to NYC’s Anthology Film Archive this Friday, March 2: WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?

Kimi Takesue’s singular and compelling exploration of Uganda was commissioned by the International Film Festival Rotterdam and had its world premiere there in 2010. The documentary also screened at other notable fests, including Los Angeles, MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, and Planete Doc.

Uganda emerges as a diverse, multifaceted place in Takesue’s observational documentary. Eschewing talking heads, the film instead reveals a sense of place and its corresponding themes through a number of often extended static takes, with the camera trained on individuals, or on the hustle and bustle of city life in various locations, from a beauty parlor to boxing gym. At times, it seems her subjects may not know they’re being captured, while at others, Takesue receives a knowing look, or even a flirtatious wink – subverting common ethnographic approaches historically taken in documenting Africa. Even when the film handles thematic territory that is sadly all-too-common in films about many African nations – Uganda’s violent civil war – it once again does so in an atypical manner, with former child soldiers briefly relating their stories via voiceover as the camera presents their still faces in close-up. Expectations are constantly upended about where exactly Takesue has taken us and why, creating an engaging and curious interplay between the director and the audience throughout the film.

Coming to NYC’s Quad Cinema this Friday, March 2: HEIST: WHO STOLE THE AMERICAN DREAM?

Frances Causey and Donald Goldmacher’s exploration of the corporate takeover of America made its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival last Fall. It screened in conjunction with the Occupy movement in Marin and Los Angeles, and also was part of Santa Barbara’s lineup. It goes to Cleveland next month, but before that enjoys a one-week run in NYC.

Causey and Goldmacher’s film cogently argues that the economic collapse is a direct result of decades of deregulation in various forms at the service of corporations. Citing 1971’s Powell Memo, a battle plan to give corporations unprecedented power and wealth, which became a blueprint for public policy beginning under Reagan, the filmmakers trace a path of destruction of checks and balances which led to the current state of crisis. The growth of lobbies, the bankrolling of Congress through Conservative “think tanks” like the Heritage Foundation, and the weakening of unions all worked hand-in-hand to dismantle the benefits in place since the New Deal and begin the economic decline of the country under Reaganomics, while deregulation paved the way for corporations to amass greater and greater wealth. Unfortunately, Presidents who followed, both Democrat and Republican, followed suit. The doc presents a staggering amount of historical background that all Americans should know – and be angered by – but, just as importantly, it provides a way forward and out of the mess through political activism.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, February 28: NO SUBTITLES NECESSARY: LÁSZLÓ & VILMOS

James Chressanthis’ portrait of two acclaimed Hollywood cinematographers and Hungarian ex-pats made its world premiere at Cannes in 2008. It went on to screen at a number of additional notable fests, including Denver, Palm Springs, Buenos Aires, Thessaloniki Documentary, Hong Kong, and New Orleans, picking up six jury and audience awards during its festival run. The doc made its broadcast premiere on PBS’ Independent Lens in 2009.

Spanning half a century, the story of László Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond encompasses Cold War politics, the American New Wave, and the American Dream. Through numerous film clips and interviews with the two friends, their families, and a remarkable number of Hollywood colleagues and admirers, from Peter Bogdanovich to Karen Black, Peter Fonda to Leonard Maltin, Chressanthis simultaneously explores the filmmaking dreams of a pair of Hungarians who had fled the Soviet invasion of their country, and their role in the transformation of the look of post-studio system Hollywood – Kovacs for films like EASY RIDER and PAPER MOON, Zsigmond for MCCABE & MRS MILLER and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, among others. László and Vilmos are amiable subjects, and the quality of their work shines in the doc, but what’s also compelling is their shared history and friendship, which began at film school in their native country and continued until Kovacs died the year before the film’s debut.

Coming to NYC’s 92Y Tribeca for a special screening this Wednesday, February 29 and in theatres beginning next Thursday, March 8: THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE

Marie Losier’s doc on an innovative performer and his muse made its world premiere at Berlin last year, where it claimed a Teddy Award, and its North American premiere at SXSW. In the past year, it has screened at well over seventy additional festivals, including Tribeca, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Indie Lisboa, Doc Aviv, Silverdocs, BAMcinemaFEST, FIDM, Karlovy Vary, and CPH:DOX.

I included the doc in my SXSW coverage here.

Coming to NYC’s IFC Center this Friday, March 2 and on VOD Friday, March 16: LAST DAYS HERE

Don Argott and Demian Fenton’s profile of a down-on-his-luck musician premiered at SXSW last year in competition. It went on to screen at other notable festivals, including BAMcinemaFEST, Independent Film Festival Boston, and IDFA, winning awards at the latter two.

I covered the film out of SXSW here.

Now in theatres: UNDEFEATED

Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin’s intimate look at a North Memphis high school football team made its debut at SXSW last year. It later screened at Toronto and Dubai, among others, and is one of five non-fiction features in contention for the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Like its subjects, the Manassas Tigers, this documentary snuck up seemingly out of nowhere. Despite slots at notable fests, and some good early reviews, the film wasn’t on many people’s radar until the Oscar shortlist. Personally, I’ve been clear here in the past that sports docs often leave me cold unless the filmmakers also craft a compelling story that can appeal to the uninitiated – viewers who aren’t already fans of the particular team or sport on display. Unfortunately, a great many docs that I come across each year fail to do so. In the case of Lindsay and Martin’s film, thankfully, they recognize the need to connect audiences beyond the base concern of who will win and who will lose a particular game. Instead, they have crafted a remarkably touching, inspiring, and accessible film that will make grown men cry. Beyond the appeal of an underdog story, which this most certainly is – the Tigers have had a disastrous 110-year history, never once winning a playoff game – the doc works as a potent study of masculinity and character. The four main characters – Coach Bill Courtney, a father figure to his young charges who lack male role models; OC, whose ticket out of poverty is a college scholarship; Chavis, who struggles to stay on the team due to anger issues; and Money, an overachiever both academically and athletically, despite a small frame – have invested much in football, but, as Courtney reminds his team, the sport doesn’t build character – it reveals it. How they each handle the ups and downs of the season sets them up to face the future and be undefeated, whether or not they win the game.