Coming to DVD next Tuesday, January 17: BOMBAY BEACH
Alma Har’el’s visually arresting doc on California’s barren Salton Sea and its residents premiered at Berlin last year, then went on to claim Best Documentary at Tribeca and a Special Jury Award at Sheffield. It received a limited theatrical release in the Fall.
I wrote about the film out of Tribeca here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, January 17: LIFE 2.0
Jason Spingarn-Koff’s documentary on Second Life premiered at Sundance in 2010, and went on to screen at SXSW, Boston, San Francisco, CPH:DOX, and New Orleans, among others. Oprah’s OWN Documentary Club hosted the broadcast premiere last Summer after a limited theatrical run in the Spring.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Brooklyn’s reRun Gastropub Theater for a week-long theatrical run beginning this Friday, January 13: FAKE IT SO REAL
Robert Greene premiered his doc about aspiring pro wrestlers at True/False last year. It went on to screen at a number of additional festivals and series, including Sarasota, Camden, Rooftop Films, and CPH:DOX.
I previously wrote about the film out of True/False
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, January 13: SING YOUR SONG
Susanne Rostock’s Harry Belafonte biography made its premiere at Sundance last year before screening at numerous additional high-profile fests, including Berlin, SXSW, and Tribeca. It made its broadcast premiere on HBO this past Fall.
I wrote about the film before Sundance
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Releases, Sundance
Premiering on HBO this Thursday, January 12: PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky premiered their third film on the West Memphis Three at Toronto last September. Before the festival took place, the case took a dramatic turn, resulting in the duo shooting an addendum, which did not premiere until the next month at the New York Film Festival. Since then, it has screened at a number of other fests, including the Hamptons and IDFA.
The story of Berlinger and Sinofsky’s PARADISE LOST films is now well-known, and that notoriety has itself become an integral part of the story. As in Pamela Yates recent GRANITO, both PARADISE LOST 2 and the most recent film are to some extent about the real world impact the filmmakers’ previous films have had on the subjects they’ve documented. While this meta aspect is not overemphasized, it is abundantly clear that the case the documentary trilogy has followed for more than 15 years would not be at all familiar were it not for these films. For those who might not be familiar, however: In 1993, three young boys were murdered in Arkansas, and three teenagers were convicted of the crime based on suspect evidence and a dodgy confession. After the first PARADISE LOST film aired on HBO, a number of viewers mobilized in support of the teens, dubbed the “West Memphis Three,” who, it seemed, were railroaded. The second film took the tactic of examining potential evidence against one of the parents as the likely actual culprit, and awakened further doubts about the case, engendering more support for the WM3. Revisiting the story a decade after the sequel, Berlinger and Sinofsky could not have imagined that the WM3 would be released – as signified by the third film’s subtitle, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr were stuck in a holding pattern, jailed for nearly two decades, with appeals regularly dismissed and no end in sight. The film reviews and now discounts the evidence against the parent from the second film, but explores another potential suspect and new evidence, some made possible by DNA, other by new witnesses. The unexpected twist, of course, comes when the WM3 are allowed to go free – though they have lost their youth, three young boys were still killed, and the real murderer remains unpunished. Still, taken together, the trilogy unequivocally demonstrates the power of documentary to influence audiences and affect dramatic change.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to select US theatres and VOD beginning next Friday, January 13 (plus Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox this Sunday, January 8): MAN ON A MISSION: RICHARD GARRIOTT’S ROAD TO THE STARS
Mike Woolf’s chronicle of a civilian’s space flight premiered at SXSW in 2010, where it also picked up an audience award. Distributor First Run Features has theatrical engagements currently planned through mid February – for more information, click here.
For years, Richard Garriott wished to follow in the footsteps of his father, NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, and travel into space. While his lack of perfect vision put a serious hurdle in his path, making him ineligible for the the space program, Richard’s success in the nascent field of computer game development resulted in a personal fortune that allowed him to realize his longheld dream. Woolf follows Richard Garriott, as he trains to become the first US second generation to travel into space as a private citizen – at the cost of $30 million and months of preparation. Garriott, who is supported in his plans by his dad, is a likeable and enviable guide through the rigorous training regiment. Arriving at Star City, the hub of the former Soviet cosmonaut training center, Woolf details everything from the molding needed to construct Garriott’s suit to Russian lessons to be able to read controls to emergency water splashdown drills. What should prove most fascinating to viewers, however, are the scenes filmed in space, with demonstrations of zero gravity life and a tour of the international space station.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD next Tuesday, January 10: QUEEN OF THE SUN
Taggart Siegel’s look at the honey bee and colony collapse disorder had its world premiere at Nashville in 2010, and went on to screen at additional fests, including Seattle and IDFA. It had a limited theatrical release last Summer.
I wrote about the film upon its theatrical release Indiewire here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 27: JANE’S JOURNEY
Lorenz Knauer’s profile of Jane Goodall has had an extensive festival run, and enjoyed a limited theatrical release this Fall.
I wrote about the film around its theatrical release here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Quad Cinema for a week beginning tomorrow, Friday, December 23: VITO
Jeffrey Schwarz’s portrait of LGBT activist Vito Russo had its world premiere at this Fall’s New York Film Festival. Since then, the doc has screened at a number of LGBT festivals, with more engagements forthcoming. The Quad brings the film back to Russo’s NYC stomping grounds with daily screenings at 1PM and 3PM through December 29.
For younger generations of LGBT individuals and for film scholars, Vito Russo may be familiar as the author of THE CELLULOID CLOSET, the pioneering book exploring representations of homosexuality in the cinema, which was later adapted into the Sundance award-winning documentary by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. For an older generation, Russo was also known as a vibrant gay rights political activist, both before and after the impact of AIDS. He was a co-founder of both GLAAD and ACT UP, recognizing in the former the importance of the media in creating and fostering the public’s view of LGBT people, and in the latter the necessity for the LGBT community to mobilize in order to fight for its own continued existence in the face of the AIDS epidemic. What’s so moving and important about Schwarz’s portrait is not only its deeply felt appreciation for Russo and his diverse contributions to society and culture, but in the way that the documentary also functions as an affecting elegy for an entire generation lost to the AIDS crisis. The film captures not only Russo’s history, but the history of all those people, predominantly gay men, and helps in some way to repopulate the vacuum that has resulted from their loss.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Film Forum for a one week run beginning next Wednesday, December 28: EL SICARIO, ROOM 164
Gianfranco Rosi’s unconventional yet remarkably gripping profile of an ex-hitman premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival, where it won three awards. It has screened at numerous fests since, including Hot Docs, DocLisboa, DocAviv, and Thessaloniki Documentary, picking up additional accolades along the way.
I included the film in my Hot Docs round up here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
