On DVD: ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL

Coming to DVD in re-release this Friday, January 20:
ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL

Director:
Sacha Gervasi

World Premiere:
Sundance 2008

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Chicago, Bergen, Biografilm, Docville, Göteborg, Helsinki, San Francisco Jewish

About:
An influential but obscure Canadian 1980s metal band attempts to mount a comeback and finally get their long-deserved due.

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2023 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: NAVALNY

NAVALNY
Anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny recovers in Berlin after nearly being poisoned to death with the nerve agent Novichok. He makes shocking discoveries about his assassination attempt and bravely decides to return home – whatever the consequences. World Premiered in the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s US Documentary Competition section, where it won Festival Favorite and the Audience Award: US Documentary.

Director:
Daniel Roher

Producers:
Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris

Festival Section:
Encore Special Screenings

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

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Streaming: THE WOBBLIES

Coming to OVID this Thursday, January 19:
THE WOBBLIES

Director:
Stewart Bird, Deborah Shaffer

World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 1979

About:
The story of radical labor union the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), better known as the Wobblies, which championed the formation of “one big union” for all unskilled laborers, regardless of their race and gender.

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On DVD: LOUDMOUTH

Coming to DVD today,Tuesday, January 17:
LOUDMOUTH

Director:
Josh Alexander

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022

About:
A disruptive spotlight on Reverend Al Sharpton – the pastoral prodigy turned political firebrand turned media establishment figure.

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On TV: ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE

Courtesy PBS/American Experience

Coming to PBS’s American Experience tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17:
ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE

Director:
Tracy Heather Strain

World Premiere:
American Experience (January 2023)

About:
An in-depth biography of the influential author, whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender, and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.

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2023 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED
Stephen Curry is one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball. Intimate cinematic video, archival footage, and on-camera interviews reveal Curry’s rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion.

Director/Paroducer:
Peter Nicks

Producers:
Ryan Coogler, Sean Havey, Erick Peyton, Marissa Torres Ericson

Festival Section:
Special Screenings

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

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On TV: THE BIG PAYBACK

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens today, Monday, January 16:
THE BIG PAYBACK

Director:
Erika Alexander, Whitney Dow

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2022

About:
Evanston IL Alderwoman Simmons leads her constituents through a historic campaign for reparations for the Black community. 

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2023 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: SQUARING THE CIRCLE (THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS)

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

SQUARING THE CIRCLE (THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS)
An inside look at the studio responsible for some of the most iconic and recognizable album covers of all time. From Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon to Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, the studio ruled the ’70s.

Director:
Anton Corbijn

Producer:
Trish D Chetty, Ged Doherty, Colin Firth

Festival Section:
Spotlight

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

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2023 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: LAST THINGS

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Deborah Stratman

LAST THINGS
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact. The geo-biosphere is a place of evolutionary possibility, where humans disappear but life endures.

Director/Producer:
Deborah Stratman

Producer:
Anže Peržin, Gaëlle Boucand

Festival Section:
New Frontier

More Info:
Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.

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Streaming: MURF THE SURF: JEWELS, JESUS AND MAYHEM IN THE USA

Coming to MGM+ this Sunday, January 15:
MURF THE SURF: JEWELS, JESUS AND MAYHEM IN THE USA

Director:
RJ Cutler

World Premiere:
MGM+ (January 2023)

About:
A docuseries on one of the most complicated and notorious American crime figures ever, Jack Roland Murphy, who became America’s very first true crime television superstar in 1964.

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