Category Archives: Releases

In Theatres: STORM LAKE

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 17:
STORM LAKE

Director:
Jerry Risius, Beth Levison

World Premiere:
Full Frame 2021

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Provincetown, Woods Hole, Berkshire, Freep, Woodstock

About:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen and his family and colleagues at Iowa’s Storm Lake Times fight for the survival of their biweekly small-town newspaper and for an informed electorate and functioning democracy.

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In Theatres: LITTLE GIRL

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
LITTLE GIRL

Director:
Sébastien Lifshitz

World Premiere:
Berlin 2020

Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Docs Against Gravity, Chicago, Ghent, Tokyo, Seville, MIX Brasil, Thessaloniki, Jerusalem, Seattle, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

About:
A portrait of an eight-year-old who wants to express her true gender identity.

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In Theatres: FERGUSON RISES

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
FERGUSON RISES

Director:
Mobolaji Olambiwonnu

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021

About:
Six years after the fatal shooting of an unarmed Michael Brown Jr by a white police officer, and the subsequent days of protest, a new portrait of the community of Ferguson.

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In Theatres: MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY

Coming to theatres this Friday, September 17:
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY

Director:
Betsy West, Julie Cohen

World Premiere:
Sundance 2021

Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Sheffield, Doc10, Provincetown, AFI Docs, Outfest

About:
A profile a long unheralded legal pioneer.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance

In Theatres/Virtual Release: I AM NOT ALONE

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Thursday, September 16 and to virtual cinemas this Friday, September 17:
I AM NOT ALONE

Director:
Garin Hovannisian

World Premiere:
Toronto 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Palm Springs, Oxford, Thessaloniki Doc, Hong Kong

About:
An exploration of the 2018 Armenian revolution through the citizen activists who refused to accept it.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In 2018, Armenia experienced a peaceful revolution that’s inspiring to anyone challenging power. Nikol Pashinyan—a former journalist and political prisoner turned Member of Parliament—begins a march by himself to protest Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan trying to extend the reach of his power. The film observes how Pashinyan’s campaign slowly grows from one person into a mass movement. Briskly paced and offering a balance of perspectives, Garin Hovannisian’s film is a feat of nonfiction storytelling.

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On VOD: HER SOCIALIST SMILE

Coming to MUBI tomorrow, Thursday, September 16:
HER SOCIALIST SMILE

Director:
John Gianvito

World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2020

Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Jeonju, Viennale, Cinema du Reel, Hot Docs, Indielisboa

About:
A meditation on Helen Keller’s outspokenness on behalf of progressive causes.

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On VOD: OUR DEFEATS

Coming to MUBI tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15:
OUR DEFEATS

Director:
Jean-Gabriel Périot

World Premiere:
Berlin 2019

Select Festivals:
Visions du Reel, CPH:DOX, Jeonju, Istanbul, San Sebastian, Sao Paulo, Guanajuato

About:
A class of teenagers from a school outside Paris reenact scenes of strikes, resistance, and labor disputes from films from the May ‘68 era.

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On DVD: THE HUMAN FACTOR

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 14:
THE HUMAN FACTOR

Director:
Dror Moreh

World Premiere:
Telluride 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, Chicago, AFI Fest, Philadelphia, Cork, Jerusalem, Woodstock, Savannah

About:
A look back at peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine in 2000 through the memories of American diplomats.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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On VOD: FISH & MEN

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, September 14:
FISH & MEN

Director:
Darby Duffin, Adam R Jones

World Premiere:
New Hampshire 2019

Select Festivals:
Provincetown, Woods Hole, Sebastopol Doc, Newport Beach, St Louis, Virginia, Globe Docs,

About:
A revealing look at how consumer demand for five species of seafood has threatened fishing communities and public health.

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Special Screening: WE ARE THE THOUSAND

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15:
WE ARE THE THOUSAND

Director:
Anita Rivaroli

World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, Melbourne, Docs Against Gravity

About:
An uplifting, inspiring, and emotional music documentary about a seemingly impossible plan to record a song by the Foo Fighters with a thousand musicians.

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