what (not) to doc

Coming to Hulu tomorrow, Friday, April 27:
TINY SHOULDERS: RETHINKING BARBIE

Director:
Andrea Nevins

Premiere:
Tribeca 2018

About:
An exploration of the popular doll’s complicated relationship to body image and feminism.

Since her introduction in 1959, Barbie has been a magnet for controversy. Emerging in a marketplace that only included baby dolls, Barbie’s “adult” body – one with breasts – was a gamble for Mattel, but it paid off, eventually making the company part of the Fortune 500. While the grown-up role-playing that Barbie’s endless varieties of accessories and professions encouraged was in its own way progressive, the doll still came to represent all things negative about gender stereotypes, and, increasingly, was criticized for its unrealistic body shape and size. In recent years, facing declining sales and bad press, Mattel acknowledges it’s time for a change. Nevins’ well-crafted film follows the company’s careful efforts to finally better represent a diversity of body image as they develop and release a new generation of Barbie dolls, at the risk of further criticism and damage to their brand. As the filmmaker profiles several of the women behind the initiative, she skillfully weaves in Barbie’s evolution over time, and her impact on and response to changes in women’s place in society.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Thursday, April 26:
THE BLOOD IS AT THE DOORSTEP

Director:
Erik Ljung

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Human Rights Watch, Traverse, Indie Memphis, Maryland, Salem, Freep

About:
A family struggles in the aftermath of the police shooting of an unarmed African-American man diagnosed with schizophrenia.

After a Starbucks barista called the cops on Dontre Hamilton for loitering in a public park, he was shot 14 times. Police reports further marginalized Hamilton and spread falsehoods about his criminality. Outraged and in grief as they wait for the DA to bring charges against the officer, his family members organize for justice for Dontre and for other black lives lost to police violence. While hampered by a somewhat awkward title, Ljung’s film is a powerful, compelling look at a pressing, sadly still-topical issue, that benefits from a hyper focus on a single family’s efforts to make positive change out of tragedy.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 24:
DO NOT RESIST

Director:
Craig Atkinson

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Traverse City, AFI Docs, DOXA, Human Rights Watch, Telluride Mountainfilm, Bergen, Zurich, Dokufest, Camden

About:
An exploration of the militarization of America’s police force.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 24:
44 PAGES

Director:
Tony Shaff

Premiere:
SXSW Edu 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Dallas, Sarasota, Cleveland, RiverRun, Nashville, Sidewalk, Indie Memphis, St Louis,

About:
A behind the scenes look at the most popular children’s magazine in the world.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 24:
BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY

Directors:
David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Telluride Mountainfilm, Seattle, Human Rights Watch, AFI Docs, Hot Springs Doc, Traverse City, Los Angeles, Provincetown

About:
A revealing profile of the well-known educational television personality turned science advocate.

I previously wrote about the doc here.