Coming to DVD and digital today, Tuesday, September 24:
8 DAYS: TO THE MOON AND BACK
Director:
Anthony Philipson
World Premiere:
BBC broadcast (July 2019)
About:
An immersive revisitation of the Apollo 11 mission.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
photo by Edward Burtynsky
Directors:
Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky
World Premiere:
Toronto 2018
Select Festivals:
Sundance, Berlin, Cleveland, Washington DC Enviro, Calgary, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Doc10, Docs Against Gravity, Sydney, Sheffield, Revelation Perth, Melbourne Doc, DokuFest
About:
A striking visual chronicle of human impact on the planet.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to HBO this Wednesday, September 25:
BUZZ
Director:
Andrew Shea
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
About:
A revealing portrait of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS author Buzz Bissinger.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24:
COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE
Director:
Judith Helfand
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Traverse City, San Francisco Jewish, Woods Hole, EarthxFilm, Sarasota, environmental fests in Washington DC, Yale, and Princeton
About:
An investigation of the victims and profiteers in extreme weather catastrophes.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In July 1995, Chicago was hit by a record heat wave that claimed the lives of 739 residents, primarily among the elderly, African Americans, and those living in poverty. Using this tragedy as a jumping-off point, but referencing other extreme weather catastrophes like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, director Judith Helfand provocatively reframes the politics of disaster to encompass extreme inequity, arguing that economically disadvantaged communities should be preventatively treated as disasters taking place in slow motion.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 20:
DIEGO MARADONA
Director:
Asif Kapadia
World Premiere:
Cannes 2019
Select Festivals:
Telluride, Sheffield, Karlovy Vary, Biografilm, Jerusalem
About:
An archival portrait of the celebrated but controversial soccer star.
Diego Maradona emerged from the slums of Buenos Aires to become a worldwide sports phenomenon. With access to Maradona’s own personal archives, Director Asif Kapadia turns his signature approach to the notorious bad boy, focusing on the seven years Maradona spent in Naples after he transferred from Barcelona in 1984. With the fate of the club on his shoulders, the champion athlete embraces the impoverished Italian city and its excesses, resulting in a wild tragicomedy that should prove compelling even for non-soccer fans.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 20:
BUZZ
Director:
Andrew Shea
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
About:
A revealing portrait of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS author Buzz Bissinger.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Buzz Bissinger is known for getting his subjects to open up for Vanity Fair assignments like profiling Caitlyn Jenner, as well as for his book, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Now he reveals himself during a tumultuous year in his personal life filmed by his longtime friend Andrew Shea. As he collaborates with Jenner on her biography, Bissinger exposes his own buried desires in ways that test his marriage and family. This surprising portrait explores the toll of seeking one’s authentic self.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 20:
DON’T BE NICE
Director:
Max Powers
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Palm Springs, Urbanworld, Bushwick, Black Harvest, Brisbane, Guelph, Vail
About:
The Bowery Slam Poetry Team prepares for the national championships.
Capturing the voices of a diverse group of young black, Latinx, and queer writers, Max Powers’ film follows their efforts to express themselves with authenticity through slam poetry. Guided by a supportive but no-nonsense coach Lauren Whitehead, Ashley, Timothy, Joel, Noel, and Mega push themselves to confront deeply ingrained trauma and the harsh realities of growing up in an often racist, homophobic society, exorcising it through spoken word. Dealing with more challenging subject matter than most competition docs, the film succeeds in transcending its subgenre, and sharing some difficult, but necessary truths.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
photo by Washington Post
Director:
Jacqueline Olive
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Full Frame, RiverRun, Dallas, Salem, Minneapolis-St Paul, Oxford, Sun Valley, Cleveland, Indie Grits, Atlanta, Freep, Florida, Thin Line, San Francisco, Bentonville, Provincetown, AFI Docs, BlackStar
About:
An interrogation of the disturbing, lasting legacy of lynching in America.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images | Courtesy Vision Films
Director:
Tom O’Dell
World Premiere:
VOD release (August 2019)
About:
An exploration of how Charles Manson’s failed music ambitions informed his criminality.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s Voces this Friday, September 20:
THE PUSHOUTS
Directors:
Katie Galloway and Dawn Valadez
World Premiere:
Full Frame 2018
Select Festivals:
San Francisco, Urbanworld, St Louis, Indie Memphis, Sebastopol Doc, Bentonville, Latino fests in Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego
About:
A former dropout-turned-professor is on a mission to re-engage at risk students.
Victor Rios was on a path to nowhere by his mid-teens – a dropout, drug dealer, gang member, and convicted felon. Through the critical help of mentors, however, Rios found a way out of the poverty and violence, and eventually became a professor. Recognizing the failures of the American education system, Rios reframes the idea of “dropouts” to “pushouts,” questioning how schools fail their students instead. Directors Katie Galloway and Dawn Valadez weave Rios’ story together with those of present-day 16-24-year-old youth mentored as part of the Yo!Watts youth center. The film’s strength is in the charismatic Rios; its too-short running time unfortunately leads to only a cursory sense of the kids in the mentorship program. Despite this, the doc offers a positive message – one responsive to the needs of students rather than the school system.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 