what (not) to doc

Wiseman’s latest focuses on the titular community, with a population less than 2000, roving around various activities and locations, from a local diner to a farm, an auction to a far-too-long funeral. The master filmmaker isn’t concerned with establishing characters, but in providing an impressionistic look at the daily life of rural America. It’s a largely apolitical portrait, with the most contentious issue debated by a planning board being a vague reference to concerns of a demographic change to the town. Otherwise, an impassioned discussion about whether the Lion’s Club should donate one or two benches to the local library is more the film’s speed. Though not one of Wiseman’s more notable efforts, the film nevertheless retains interest on the whole.

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October 25, 2018 · 1:31 PM

2018 DOC NYC in Focus: International Perspectives

BRAVE GIRLS

Festival:
DOC NYC

Dates:
November 8-15

Section:
International Perspectives, a look at stories from around the globe: Continue reading →

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations

October 25, 2018 · 12:01 PM

Ji.hlava 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 22nd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

Dates:
October 25-30

About:
More than 100 new and recent nonfiction features are presented in this Czech event.

UNTIL PORN DO US PART

Among the world premieres in the main competition, Opus Bonum, are: Alexandra Kandy Longuet’s VACANY, an observational study of an American motel; Jorge Pelicano’s UNTIL PORN DO US PART, about a religious woman trying to come to terms with her son’s gay porn career; Sanaz Azari’s BACKSTAGE ACTION, which focuses on film extras; NSD Mike Hoolboom’s AFTERMATH, an experimental portrait of four artists.

CONNATURAL

Filmmakers making their feature debut are spotlighted in the First Lights competition, with world premieres including: Dulce Ferreira Sanchez’s THE PARADISE, exploring Venezuela’s recent history through 15 years of the filmmaker’s home movies; Joaquín Maito’s OWNER’S PORTRAIT, an essay about animals, humans, and capitalism; Javier Bellido Valdivia’s CONNATURAL, profiling three generations of women and their connection to mortality; and Cyprien Clément-Delmas and Igor Kosenko’s BOY OF WAR, about a naive teen eager to join the war in Ukraine.

BIRTHDAY

Works from Central and Eastern European are the focus of the Between the Seas competition, with several world premieres, including: Hilal Baydarov’s BIRTHDAY, a portrait of the filmmaker’s lonely mother; Alexander Mihalkovich’s MY GRANNY FROM MARS, about an old Ukrainian woman living in Russian-occupied Crimea; Simon Mozgovyi’s THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE, on a crumbling conservatory that has just lost its longtime gardener; and Eugene Golovanevsky’s HEAVY METAL, which follows construction workers as they tear down a high-rise.

FERAL

National cinema making its debut in the Czech Joy competition includes: Pavel Jurda’s GOOD MR BENDA, a portrait of an athletics-minded grandfather; Martin Páv’s VOTE FOR KIBERA, a hopeful profile of the people of Nairobi’s biggest slum; Jana Boršková’s PASSENGERS, a longitudinal portrait of former residents of a children’s home; and Jiří Holba’s FERAL, about a Czech man living as a hermit in the Australian outback since the 1980s.