what (not) to doc

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 2:
DISTANT CONSTELLATION

Director:
Shevaun Mizrahi

Premiere:
Locarno 2017

Select Festivals:
IDFA, True/False, Docpoint, DOK.fest Munich, RIDM, Jeonju, DOXA, EDOC, Beldocs, Docaviv, Goteborg, One World, London, Reykjavik, Vienna, Sarasota, BAMcinemaFest, Melbourne, Dokufest, Message to Man, Flahertiana, DocsMX

About:
A meditative film set in a Turkish retirement home.

In this beautifully photographed, almost dream-like film, Mizrahi turns her camera on several residents of a Turkish retirement home. These vignettes offer a range of stories – sad to sweet, humorous to solemn – but, delivered by these aged figures, they speak to a search for meaning when faced with the end of life. As a counterpoint, scenes from the construction sites around the home play out occasionally, offering a look at would-be progress and future plans, enacted by young laborers. Full of indelible images and often equally unforgettable subjects, Mizrahi has crafted a thoughtful, haunting, and singular project.

Coming to VOD this Friday, November 2:
ZERO WEEKS

Director:
Ky Dickens

Premiere:
Camden 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Portland, Chicago Feminist, Green Mountain, Cleveland, Nashville

About:
An exploration of the essential need for paid family leave.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In most countries, workers are given several weeks of paid leave and job security should they need time off to care for a newborn or a sick relative or to tend to a personal health emergency. Only two nations offer exactly zero weeks: Papua New Guinea and the United States, where individuals are often forced to choose between keeping their job or taking care of their family or health. Through powerful human stories, director Ky Dickens demonstrates the urgent need to address this vital issue.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed, tonight, Tuesday, October 30:
CHARLIE VS GOLIATH

Director:
Reed Lindsay

Premiere:
Big Sky Doc 2017

Select Festivals:
Workers Unite, Mumbai, Sun Valley

About:
A former Catholic priest makes a bid for the US Senate in Wyoming.

Charlie Hardy is an unlikely politician. Beyond his background in the priesthood, he’s fairly quiet and unassuming, and, more to the point, he’s a Democrat in the historically Republican state of Wyoming. Lindsay’s film tracks Hardy’s 2014 campaign, as he faces off against incumbent Mike Enzi, who has served in the role since 1997. Hardy traverses the whole of the state, speaking out against dark money in politics, noting that the vast majority of Enzi’s campaign financing comes from outside the state and from large corporate interests, chiefly the coal industry. As denoted by the film’s quixotic title, Hardy has an uphill battle – he insists on individual donations from within Wyoming only, so he has no hope of placing any media ads, and his is a decidedly grassroots campaign, with a skeleton crew of supporters. As with any campaign documentaries in an age of instantly searchable results, the point of this scrappy film is not so much who wins but the insight it provides into how challenging the electoral process actually is post-Citizens United.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, October 30:
ALT-RIGHT: AGE OF RAGE

Director:
Adam Bhala Lough

Premiere:
SXSW 2018

Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Ji.hlava, AmDocs, Poland’s American Film Festival

About:
An investigation into the rise of hate groups under the current presidential administration.

Responding to the emboldening of right-wing radicalism by the ascension of Trump, Lough began following alt-right leaders, as well as the groups fighting against them, eventually basically honing in on two diametrically opposed subjects. On the alt-right, Richard Spencer, the head of white supremacist think tank National Policy Institute, and on the left, Daryle Lamont Jenkins, part of radical left activist organization Antifa. While others weave in and out of this provocative film, these two are the ideological opponents with which Lough spends the most time, culminating in a disturbing, in-the-moment experience of Charlottesville. While not able to, nor attempting to, bring much of a conclusion to the proceedings, the film offers valuable contest and a potent exposé of the beliefs and practices of the alt-right and its continuing deleterious impact on American society.