Festival:
The 14th ZagrebDox
Dates:
February 25-March 4
About:
This Croatian event presents nearly 80 new feature documentaries in addition to retrospective programming. Continue reading
ZagrebDox 2018 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD: THE GIANT KILLER
Courtesy of XLrator Media
THE GIANT KILLER
Director:
David Yuzuk
Premiere:
Rome GA Film Festival 2017
About:
A police officer investigates the mysterious life of a homeless veteran.
Several years ago, Miami police officer David Yuzuk met and befriended Richard Flaherty, a diminutive homeless man who eventually revealed that he was a Special Forces soldier involved in dangerous missions for the US government in Vietnam and beyond. Soon after Flaherty began to confide in Yuzuk, he was killed in a hit-and-run incident. Inspired to find the truth behind the late man’s stories, the amateur filmmaker contacts Flaherty’s family members, fellow veterans, and others from the community who had come to know him. In the process, he confirms many of his unlikely tales, including how he was allowed to enlist in the US military despite his small size and became a decorated Green Beret captain, and offers speculation on other, apparently still classified aspects of his career, such as Flaherty’s frequent international trips to dangerous locations during the time he was homeless, which the vet claimed were as a military consultant. Despite the tantalizing elements of his subject’s life story, Yuzuk unfortunately struggles to create an engaging film. Possessed of scant footage of his subject, he employs cheesy re-enactments, and is over-reliant on long-winded anecdotes and narration, all set to a distracting score, making this of limited appeal.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On TV: AGENTS OF CHANGE
AP Photo/Ernest K Bennett
AGENTS OF CHANGE
Directors:
Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg
Premiere:
Pan African LA 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, St Louis, Toronto Black, March on Washington
About:
A revealing history of the battle for diversity study programs on college campuses.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
As students of color began arriving on college campuses in unprecedented numbers in the late 1960s, they found institutions ill-prepared to adapt to diversity. Unwilling to accept the absence of their unique cultures and histories, or to ignore prejudicial treatment, students mobilized for black and ethnic-studies programs, even taking up arms when necessary. Focusing on seminal struggles at San Francisco State and Cornell University, Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg’s film powerfully demonstrates this sadly still topical call for inclusivity in education.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Special Screening: THIS IS CONGO
Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20:
THIS IS CONGO
Director:
Daniel McCabe
Premiere:
Venice 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Camden, DocPoint, Big Sky Doc, Palm Springs, Woodstock, Stockholm
About:
An inside look at the complex forces behind the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ongoing conflicts.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Filmmaker Daniel McCabe examines multiple sides of the fractious war in the Democratic Republic of Congo – including soldiers, rebels, and a diamond merchant known as Mama Romance – who allow us to make human connections in a chaotic conflict. In the process, his stunningly shot film demonstrates the connections between instability and violence in the region and the market in illegally mined natural resources.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On TV/DVD: TELL THEM WE ARE RISING: THE STORY OF BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens this coming Monday, February 19 and to DVD on Tuesday, February 20:
TELL THEM WE ARE RISING: THE STORY OF BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Director:
Stanley Nelson
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Documentary Fortnight, Full Frame, Hot Springs Doc, Pan African, Toronto Black, American Black, Blackstar, African Diaspora, Rio, Milwaukee, Heartland, Freep, RiverRun, Bentonville, Montclair, Maryland
About:
An exploration of the pivotal role played by historically Black institutions of higher learning in American society.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
In Theatres & On VOD: POOP TALK
Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, February 16:
POOP TALK
Director:
Aaron Feldman
Premiere:
LES Film Festival 2017
About:
Comedians riff on the universal but taboo topic.
Feldman gathers a gaggle of comedians, plus a few medical professionals and academics, to talk about poop and the stigma attached to it. Aside from some occasional comments that aim to explain some of the evolutionary reasons why humans have developed an aversion to the stuff, and a few bits of animation, the bulk of the film consists of funny people telling generally amusing and often gross jokes or anecdotes about pooping, toilets, bidets, gendered differences around bodily functions, and the like, some with more discomfort than others. While not unengaging, the project feels largely formless and surface-level, an uncinematic parade of talking heads that could have as easily been a 10 minute short as its current just over an hour long current form.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Big Sky Documentary 2018 Overview
Festival:
The 15th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Dates:
February 16-25
About:
Montana’s largest film event includes more than 50 features as well as shorts and extensive retrospective programming. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD: HUMAN FLOW
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, February 16:
HUMAN FLOW
Director:
Ai Weiwei
Premiere:
Venice 2017
Select Festivals:
Telluride, Hamptons, Mill Valley, Haifa, Atlantic
About:
An overarching view of the global refugee crisis.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Documentary Fortnight 2018 Overview
Festival:
The 17th Documentary Fortnight
Dates:
February 15-26
About:
Nearly two dozen new or recent features, in addition to retrospective programming, make up MoMA’s annual nonfiction showcase. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On DVD/VOD: REBELS ON POINTE
New to DVD and VOD this week:
REBELS ON POINTE
Director:
Bobbi Jo Hart
Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, DocEdge, Raindance, Calgary, Vancouver, Ashland, Hot Springs Doc, Cuculorus, Napa Valley, AmDocs, Frameline, Outfest, Inside Out, QDocs, LGBT fests in Amsterdam, Miami, Denver, Austin, Atlanta, and Rochester
About:
An intimate look at a long-running all-male drag ballet troupe.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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