In Theatres: IN THE LAND OF POMEGRANATES

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, January 5:
IN THE LAND OF POMEGRANATES

Director:
Hava Kohav Beller

Premiere:
January 2018 (theatrical)

About:
An exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Beller attempts to tackle the massive, and seemingly perpetual, issue of peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in this thoughtful but flawed project. While ostensibly about Vacation From War, an effort to bring together the younger generation of both sides in dialogue with a hope toward perhaps reaching some kind of mutual understanding, Beller makes the strange choice to bypass the potential stories these participants might have been able to share and instead profiles several unconnected individuals, from a traumatized Israeli survivor of a suicide bombing to a young Palestinian boy who receives life-saving heart surgery from an Israeli doctor. This broadening results in the project becoming a loose survey, taking on far too much and greatly lessening whatever potential transformative impact might have come from the Vacation From War discussions.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: MATANGI/MAYA/MIA

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

MATANGI/MAYA/MIA
Stephen Loveridge offers an insider perspective on the life and career of the popular musician.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Sri Lanka/United Kingdom/USA
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: GENESIS 2.0

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Evgenia Arbugaeva

GENESIS 2.0
Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev unearth efforts to resurrect the wooly mammoth.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Switzerland
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

In Theatres: ANATOMY OF A MALE BALLET DANCER

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, January 3:
ANATOMY OF A MALE BALLET DANCER

Directors:
David Barba and James Pellerito

Premiere:
Dance on Camera 2017

Select Festivals:
Full Frame, AFI Docs, Provincetown, DocUtah, Rio, GlobeDocs, Raindance, Hot Springs Doc, Key West, SF Dance, Austin LGBT

About:
A portrait of longtime American Ballet Theater principal dancer Marcelo Gomes.

Barba and Pellerito follow Gomes over the course of several years, as the Brazilian dancer celebrates his twentieth year with the ABT and faces retirement. A charismatic, well-liked performer, Gomes, who was the first major professional ballet dancer to come out publicly, details his upbringing in Brazil, and his early experiences as the sole boy in ballet class. While bullied, he had the support of his family, and especially that of his gay uncle Paulo and Paulo’s partner Wolf, easing his pursuit of his dancing dreams and his later embrace of his sexuality. While the filmmakers attempt to develop a family-focused storyline about Gomes’ long-estranged father, this thread unfortunately feels forced and incomplete in what is otherwise an enjoyable, light profile of a world-class artist.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE CLEANERS

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by gebrueder beetz filmproduktion

THE CLEANERS
Moritz Riesewieck and Hans Block give voice to the hidden figures who police social media.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Germany/Brazil
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

On DVD: CHAVELA

New to DVD this week:
CHAVELA

Directors:
Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi

Premiere:
Berlin 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Guadalajara, Malaga, Ambulante, BAFICI, Montclair, Seattle, Krakow, Transylvania, Sydney, Galway, Frameline, Outfest, Inside Out, LGBT fests in Milan, Barcelona, Austin, Palm Springs, Chicago

About:
A portrait of an iconic Latin American singer.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: ANOTE’S ARK

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Matthieu Rytz

ANOTE’S ARK
Matthieu Rytz intimately chronicles the consequences of climate change on a disappearing island nation.

Festival Section:
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Country:
Canada

Special Program:
The New Climate
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS
Tim Wardle reveals the stranger than fiction tale of triplets separated at birth.

Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance

On DVD: THANK YOU FOR PLAYING

thank_you_for_playing_stillComing to DVD today, Tuesday, January 2: THANK YOU FOR PLAYING

Directors:
David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall

Premiere:
Tribeca 2015

Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Hot Docs, IDFA, Bentonville, Melbourne, Camden, Antenna, Rio

About:
An intimate portrait of a family’s reckoning with mortality.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases

2018 Sundance Docs in Focus: THE SENTENCE

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

THE SENTENCE
Rudy Valdez reveals the personal impact of mandatory minimum laws on his own family.

Festival Section:
US Documentary Competition
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance