Coming to DVD Tuesday, January 25:
BECOMING HELEN KELLER
Director:
Michael Pressman
World Premiere:
American Masters PBS broadcast (October 2021)
About:
An exploration of the complex life and legacy of the author, advocate, and human rights pioneer, Helen Keller, who used her celebrity and wit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD Tuesday, January 25:
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR
Director:
Kier-La Janisse
World Premiere:
SXSW 2021
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Fantasia, Melbourne, Fantastic Fest, Nashville, Vancouver, Sitges
About:
An expansive history of folk horror, from the 1960s to today.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV on Monday, January 24:
NOT GOING QUIETLY
Director:
Nicholas Bruckman
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
SXSW, Oxford, Cleveland, Annapolis, Provincetown, San Francisco Jewish
About:
When a young father chances to meet a powerful senator on an airplane, their exchange goes viral, sparking one of the most unlikely political movements in a generation.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to MUBI this Saturday, January 22:
WHIRLYBIRD
Director:
Matt Yoka
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Full Frame, Calgary, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Sun Valley
About:
The story of a marriage’s fraying against the backdrop of cutthroat news reporting in 1990s Los Angeles.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
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
