Festival:
The 28th New York Jewish Film Festival
Dates:
January 9-22
About:
This annual event, co-presented by The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, offers eight documentary features among its 21 new feature offerings. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Angello Faccini
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Colombia
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
New to DVD and VOD this week:
QUEERCORE: HOW TO PUNK A REVOLUTION
Director:
Yony Leyser
Premiere:
Sheffield 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, One World, Docs Against Gravity, Vienna, Frameline, Outfest, and LGBT fests in Copenhagen, Belgrade, and Brussels
About:
An entertaining cultural history of the development and influence of the queer punk scene.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In the mid-1980s, Bruce LaBruce and GB Jones, a pair of young Canadians, introduced the world to the burgeoning Toronto queer punk scene through homemade zines and scrappy films. In this pre-Internet era, there was no way of knowing that queercore consisted of just two people. Soon enough, their subversive creation spread beyond their bedrooms to attract actual adherents, spawning a radical underground subculture that challenged both the mainstream gay and homophobic punk scenes.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Samir Ljuma
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Macedonia
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Andrew McConnell
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Ireland/Canada
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, January 8:
HILLBILLY
Directors:
Sally Rubin and Ashley York
Premiere:
Nashville 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Los Angeles, Traverse City, SF DocFest, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, Southern Circuit
About:
A personal exploration of the representation of rural America.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Orlando Brito
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Brazil
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Beniamino Barrese
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Italy
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Tore Vollan
Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Country:
Denmark/Norway/Sweden/Belgium
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, January 7:
MY COUNTRY NO MORE
Directors:
Rita Baghdadi and Jeremiah Hammerling
Premiere:
Big Sky Doc 2018
Select Festivals:
SF DocFest, Docutah, Chagrin Doc, AmDocs
About:
A North Dakota family and their community fight plans to develop an oil refinery in their backyard.
Fracking has become a largely accepted part of life and a boon to North Dakota’s economy since the discovery of a massive oil field in 2006, but it comes with consequences. Baghdadi and Hammerling examines the impact of the oil boom on the small community of Trenton, where local ranchers face the choice between giving up long-held family farms and land, or cashing in for the short-term financial benefits. At the core of the film is Kalie Rider and her family, who emerges as an unlikely leader in the fight to stop the construction of an oil processing plant, spearheaded by North Dakota Processing’s Mel Falcon, who has made headway in rezoning requests and in convincing others in the community to sell their land. While the film struggles at times to enliven what amounts to numerous scenes of public hearings and meetings, the conflict facing Trenton serves as a thoughtful microcosm for larger national questions around energy, economic growth, and land use.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 