Coming to theatres today, Friday, January 7:
EXPEDITION CONTENT
Director:
Ernst Karel, Veronika Kusumaryat
World Premiere:
Berlin 2020
Select Festivals:
Camden, Art of the Real, Cinema du Reel, Open City Doc
About:
An exploration of ethnography through an audio record of a 1961 encounter with an indigenous people in West New Guinea.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, January 5:
MAURICE HINES: BRING THEM BACK
Director:
John Carluccio
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019
Select Festivals:
American Black, Barcelona LGBT
About:
A portrait of the Broadway song-and-dance man.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
John Carluccio’s film is a portrait of the charismatic song-and-dance man from his tap-dancing childhood to today. Maurice and friends—Chita Rivera, Mercedes Ellington, and Debbie Allen—tell tales from his seven-decade career, including Broadway shows, Hollywood films like Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, and about his loving yet difficult relationship with superstar brother Gregory Hines. Ever battling the challenges of being a gay, black man in showbiz, Maurice shares his story with humor and grace.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 4:
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:
CLERK
Director:
Malcolm Ingram
World Premiere:
SXSW 2021
Select Festivals:
Philadelphia
About:
The life and career of filmmaker Kevin Smith.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD this week:
FOR AHKEEM
Directors:
Jeremy S Levine and Landon Van Soest
Premiere:
Berlin 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Tribeca, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Florida, Montclair, Documentary Edge, DOK.fest Munich, DMZ Docs, Message to Man, Milwaukee, Antenna
About:
An African-American teenage girl strives to graduate from high school.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 28:
TRY HARDER!
Director:
Debbie Lum
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, AFI Docs, Full Frame, CAAMFest, Milwaukee, Provincetown, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, Philadelphia, Virginia
About:
The graduating class of a competitive San Francisco High School is followed through its harrowing college application process.
I previously wrote about the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, December 27:
UNAPOLOGETIC
Director:
Ashley O’Shay
World Premiere:
BlackStar 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New Orleans, Black Harvest, St Louis, Cucalorus, Big Sky Doc, Athena, Cleveland, Human Rights Watch, Outfest Fusion
About:
Two fierce abolitionist leaders offer a deep look into the movement for Black Lives.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Friday, December 24:
TRY HARDER!
Director:
Debbie Lum
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, AFI Docs, Full Frame, CAAMFest, Milwaukee, Provincetown, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, Philadelphia, Virginia
About:
The graduating class of a competitive San Francisco High School is followed through its harrowing college application process.
I previously wrote about the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to HBO Max today, Thursday, December 23:
BEANIE MANIA
Director:
Yemisi Brookes
World Premiere:
HBO Max (December 2021)
About:
An exploration of the popularity of Beanie Babies, the stuffed toys created by Ty Warner that inspired a collecting craze in the late 1990s.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Discovery+ tomorrow, Thursday, December 23:
DEAD MAN’S SWITCH: A CRYPTO MYSTERY
Director:
Sheona McDonald
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2021
Select Festivals:
DOXA, Melbourne Doc, Calgary, Rocky Mountain Women’s
About:
A riveting cryptocurrency thriller unraveling the story of a Canadian blockchain wizard who mysteriously died on his honeymoon in India and the fate of his investors’ $200 million.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 