New to DVD this week:
FINAL ACCOUNT
Director:
Luke Holland
World Premiere:
Venice 2020
Select Festivals:
IDFA
About:
Interviews with the last living generation of Germans to have participated in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich – not the infamously chilling names in history books, but the everyday citizens who carried out the plans made by the architects of mass-scale genocide.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Netflix today, Wednesday, August 4:
COCAINE COWBOYS: THE KINGS OF MIAMI
Director:
Billy Corben
World Premiere:
Netflix (August 2021)
About:
This docuseries followup to the director’s acclaimed 2006 doc focuses on two of the most prolific cocaine traffickers in the history of South Florida – high school dropout best friends turned drug kingpins Los Muchachos.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Netflix today, Tuesday, August 3:
PRAY AWAY
Director:
Kristine Stolakis
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
Telluride, Hot Docs, Florida, Doc10, AFI Docs
About:
A powerful exposé on gay conversion programs, revealing the damage inflicted by shame and repression through intimate testimonies from current members and former leaders of the pray the gay away movement.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, August 3:
FIREBOYS
Director:
Jake Hochendoner, Drew Dickler
World Premiere:
VOD release (August 2021)
About:
Incarcerated young men seek a way out of prison by fighting California’a wildfires.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Wednesday, August 4:
HOMEROOM
Director:
Peter Nicks
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, BlackStar, Hot Docs, True/False, Full Frame, San Francisco, IFF Boston, Ashland
About:
An intimate profile of an Oakland high school class in the tumultuous year of COVID and a widespread reckoning of racial injustice.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Festival:
The 74th Locarno Film Festival
Dates:
August 4-14
About:
This influential Swiss event returns after a reimagined edition last year, presenting 20 documentaries among its approximately 80 new features.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3:
THE PHANTOM
Director:
Patrick Forbes
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2021
About:
A searching examination of a Texas murder to determine whether or not an innocent man was put to death, exploring the prejudice and discrimination that persists today in America’s Hispanic community.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO and HBO Max beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3:
OBAMA: IN PURSUIT OF A MORE PERFECT UNION
Director:
Peter Kunhardt
World Premiere:
HBO/HBO Max (August 2021)
About:
A three-part docuseries chronicling the personal and political journey of President Barack Obama as the US grapples with its racial history.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3:
MISHA AND THE WOLVES
Director:
Sam Hobkinson
World Premiere:
Sundance 2021
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Docaviv, Thessaloniki Doc, RiverRun
About:
The fascinating tale of a woman’s self-mythologizing Holocaust survival story.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, August 2:
PIER KIDS
Director:
Elegance Bratton
World Premiere:
Outfest 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New Orleans, True/False, BlackStar, Wicked Queer, Frameline, Virginia
About:
A portrait of several homeless queer youth of color in NYC.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Caught up in the precariousness of survival and self-preservation, homeless queer and trans youth of color hang out at Christopher Street Pier, forging their own chosen family. Genuine and charming, these eloquent youth must contend with overwhelming amounts of homophobia and abuse. As real as it gets, and with intimate, immersive access to the hazardous life of its vulnerable but fearless protagonists, director Elegance Bratton’s still-hopeful portrait exposes a raw side of New York City many often choose to ignore.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 