Coming to MUBI this Wednesday, January 19:
TAMING THE GARDEN
Director:
Salomé Jashi
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Berlin, CPH:DOX, New Directors/New Films, Shanghai, Cinéma du Réel
About:
An artful look at the unusual disruption caused by the removal and transport of several massive trees from small Georgian villages.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD via The Criterion Collection tomorrow, Tuesday, January 18:
TIME
Director:
Garrett Bradley
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
New York, London, Hamptons, Miami, Zurich, Camden, Mill Valley
Notable Recognition:
The doc was nominated for the Academy Awards.
About:
A longitudinal portrait of a marriage and a family separated by incarceration.
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, January 18:
THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT
Director:
Julien Faraut
World Premiere:
Rotterdam 2021
Select Festivals:
Documentary Fortnight, Jeonju, Midnight Sun
About:
United by their jobs in a textile factory, a Japanese women’s volleyball team chases absolute perfection—and finds international superstardom—representing postwar Japan on the 1964 Olympic stage.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, January 14:
WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA
Director:
Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
World Premiere:
SXSW 2021
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Fest, Seattle, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Woodstock
About:
ACLU lawyer Jeffery Robinson’s shattering talk on the history of US anti-Black racism is interwoven with archival footage, interviews, and Robinson’s story, exploring the legacy of white supremacy and our collective responsibility to overcome it.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres and VOD tomorrow, Friday, January 14:
A COPS AND ROBBERS STORY
Director:
Ilinca Calugareanu
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2020
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Big Sky Doc
About:
An NYPD officer’s career is threatened by revelations about his former life of crime.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In the 1980s, Corey Pegues found himself embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After an incident forces Pegues away from the streets, he unexpectedly emerges as a rising star in the NYPD, his past unknown to his fellow officers. A decorated 21-year police career is threatened when his political stances and revelations about his former life cause strife within the police community.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, January 14:
NO STRAIGHT LINES: THE RISE OF QUEER COMICS
Director:
Vivian Kleiman
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
Select Festivals:
Sheffield, AFI Docs, Frameline, Outfest, Heartland, BendFilm, GlobeDocs
About:
A profile of five pioneers of queer comedy, as they tackle everything from the AIDS crisis and workplace discrimination to the search for love and a good haircut.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
A.RTIFICIAL I.MMORTALITY
Director:
Ann Shin
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2021
Select Festivals:
Busan, Warsaw, San Diego Asian, DocEdge, Imagine Science, Calgary
About:
If computers could let you live forever, would you?
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
MLK/FBI
Director:
Sam Pollard
World Premiere:
Toronto 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Chicago, IDFA
About:
An exposé of the FBI’s adversarial relationship to the Civil Rights leader.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s American Masters today, Tuesday, January 11:
AILEY
Director:
Jamila Wignot
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Tribeca, Frameline, Provincetown, Thessaloniki Doc
About:
A revealing, moving portrait of pioneering choreographer Alvin Ailey.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 11:
MAXIMA
Director:
Claudia Sparrow
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2019
Select Festivals:
IDFA, Palm Springs, Human Rights Watch, Slamdance
About:
An indigenous Peruvian woman faces off against a mining corporation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 