Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 28:
BIDDER 70
Directors:
Beth Gage and George Gage
Premiere:
Mountainfilm 2012
Select Festivals:
Cleveland, Denver, Human Rights Watch, Traverse City, United Nations, Mill Valley, Washington DC Environmental
About:
An exploration of one man’s act of civil disobedience.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, August 27:
NOWHERE TO HIDE
Director:
Zaradasht Ahmed
Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, Thessaloniki Doc, One World, Göteborg, Cleveland, Sarasota, Docs Against Gravity, Sydney, Seattle, DocAviv, Human Rights Watch NYC, London, and Toronto
About:
A personal tour through daily life in Iraq.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Starz
beginning this Sunday, August 26:
AMERICA TO ME
Director:
Steve James
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, AFI Docs, Middlebury
About:
An intimate docuseries exploring the intersection of race and educational achievement over a year in a diverse suburban Chicago-area high school.
I profiled the series pre-Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 24:
HOT TO TROT
Director:
Gail Freedman
Premiere:
Frameline 2017
Select Festivals:
NewFest, Documentary Edge, LGBT fests in Boston, Atlanta, and London
About:
A profile of same-sex competitive ballroom dancers.
Freedman’s film follows two pairs of dancers: Gay male dancer Ernesto, who begins with dancing partner Robbie, but must shift gears when the latter must contend with a health emergency, and takes on new teammate Nikolai; and lesbians Emily and Kieran. Notably, neither pairs are romantically linked, but working in tandem, they develop a unique intimacy. With same-sex dancers barred from mainstream ballroom competitions due to proscribed rules about men leading and women following, these Freds and Gingers instead show their moves on the niche same-sex circuit, represented here primarily through Oakland’s April Follies and the Gay Games. Unfortunately, the film actually doesn’t adequately permit the dancers to strut their stuff – despite a subject matter that lends itself to action and vibrancy, there’s surprisingly little dance here, and what is shown is filmed fairly perfunctorily. Instead of focusing on the competition, Freedman opts to go for portraiture – a not unreasonable decision, given the surfeit of mediocre competition docs made each year – but her protagonists just aren’t particularly compelling absent dance, making for a fairly forgettable run down of their coming out stories, health issues, and the like.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 24:
THE OSLO DIARIES
Directors:
Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Seattle, Jerusalem, Global Peace, Biografilm, Documentary Edge, Jewish festivals in San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, and London
About:
An unprecedented behind the scenes look at the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres and to Hulu tomorrow, Friday, August 24:
CRIME + PUNISHMENT
Director:
Stephen Maing
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Doc10, Full Frame, BAMcinemaFest, Ashland, Sarasota, Thin Line, Montclair, Nashville, Seattle, Shanghai, Traverse City, Martha’s Vineyard, NY Asian American, Southern Fried, Houston Latino
About:
Whistleblowing police officers attempt to expose a corrupt NYPD.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 24:
MAKALA
Director:
Emmanuel Gras
Premiere:
Cannes 2017
Select Festivals:
Karlovy Vary, Toronto, London, Busan, IDFA, CPH:DOX, True/False, Thessaloniki Doc, New Directors/New Films, Poland’s New Horizons, Palm Springs, Goteborg, Tokyo, Hamburg, Vienna
About:
A young Congolese man embarks on a Sisyphean trek to sell charcoal.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to VOD this week:
DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?
Director:
Chris Paine
Premiere:
Regency Village Theater, Westwood (April 2018)
Select Festivals:
CinemAmbiente
About:
An exploration of the current and potential impact of artificial intelligence on the world.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Logo TV tomorrow, Thursday, August 23:
QUIET HEROES
Directors:
Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, and Amanda Stoddard
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Frameline, BFI Flare, Portland QDoc, TLVFest
About:
A tribute to the only medical professionals in Utah who would treat patients with AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.
My pre-Sundance profile may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Thursday, August 23:
PICK OF THE LITTER
Directors:
Don Hardy and Dana Nachman
Premiere:
Slamdance 2018
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Melbourne, New Zealand, Sydney, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Freep, Hawaii, Newport Beach
About:
A behind the scenes look at the training of guide dogs for the blind.
Phil, Primrose, Potomac, Patriot, and Poppet are all in the running for a vitally important, life-changing job, but they’ll have to make it through intense training first. These five adorable puppies from the same litter are candidates to become guide dogs for the blind. In this heartwarming and affectionate film, directors Dana Nachman and Don Hardy follow them from birth through training to see which dogs have what it takes to be paired with one of the 500 applicants seeking their assistance, including Janet, waiting for her fourth dog, and Ron, waiting for his first.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
what (not) to doc 