Festival:
The 11th Cinema Vérité: Iran International Documentary Film Festival
Dates:
December 10-17
About:
This Tehran event offers more than 70 new and recent features, as well as retrospective and shorts programming. Continue reading
Cinema Vérité 2017 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: I AM EVIDENCE
Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 8:
I AM EVIDENCE
Directors:
Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir
Premiere:
Tribeca 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Traverse City, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Hawaii, St Louis, UN Association, Globe Docs, Hamptons, Milwaukee,
About:
An alarming look at institutional failures in prosecuting sexual assault cases.
I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Produced by Mariska Hargitay (LAW AND ORDER: SVU), this eye-opening documentary investigates the alarming backlog of untested evidence kits that have denied justice to sexual assault survivors. Giving voice to four courageous women whose kits went untested for years, Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir’s film reveals deep-seated problems with the US criminal justice system that have resulted in perpetrators failing to be held accountable for their heinous crimes, and survivors being left in limbo.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
90th Oscars: Best Documentary Feature Shortlist Announced
JANE
I’ve previously written about most of these and hope to cover the remainder before the final nominees are announced on January 23. For now, here is the official shortlist, with links to my previous coverage, where applicable:
EX LIBRIS: THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres: ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, December 8:
ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER
Director:
Rebecca Miller
Premiere:
Telluride 2017
Select Festivals:
New York Film Festival, Woodstock
About:
An intimate portrait of the filmmaker’s famed playwright father.
Assembled from interviews shot by the filmmaker over the past 25 years of Arthur Miller’s life, as well as copious archival footage, Rebecca Miller’s film provides an insightful exploration of the playwright’s life and work. Though undeniably a personal project, the doc avoids blatant hagiography to consider not only Miller’s many achievements, such as DEATH OF A SALESMAN and THE CRUCIBLE, but also his later, critically-dismissed work. Filming her father casually, around his woodworking shop, Miller provides the expected biographical background, including his various relationships, with special attention paid to his romance with Marilyn Monroe, as well as his reactions to the Red Scare. At the same time, the filmmaker makes skillful use of her intimate connection with her subject to reflect on larger questions of success and failure, celebrity, and the impact of art on society.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Theatres: QUEST
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, December 8:
QUEST
Director:
Jonathan Olshefski
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Nantucket, True/False, New Directors/New Films, Cleveland, RiverRun, Nashville, Ashland, Hot Docs, Dallas, DOXA,
About:
A longitudinal portrait of an African-American family in North Philly.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Sundance 2018: New Frontier Announced
This post is a pointer to the third lineup announcement for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. This year’s selections in the New Frontier section may be found here.
Already announced are the films in the US and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic Competitions, NEXT, Documentary Premieres, Premieres, Midnight, Spotlight, and Kids sections, as well as the Indie Episodic, Special Events, and Shorts lineup.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations, Sundance
In Theatres: MANSFIELD 66/67
Coming to Brooklyn’s Spectacle Theater this weekend, Friday, December 8 through Sunday, December 10:
MANSFIELD 66/67
Directors:
P David Ebersole and Todd Hughes
Premiere:
Rotterdam 2017
Select Festivals:
BAFICI, Docs Against Gravity, Provincetown, Sitges, Gent, Am Docs, Frameline, Inside Out
About:
A campy exploration of the life, death, and legend of Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: 32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE
Coming to HBO this Thursday, December 7:
32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE
Director:
Hope Litoff
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2017
Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Provincetown, Biografilm, San Francisco Jewish, Woodstock, Denver, Cork, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Boston Jewish
About:
A filmmaker confronts her grief over the loss of her sister.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Dubai 2017: Documentary Overview
Festival:
The 14th Dubai International Film Festival
Dates:
December 6-13
About:
The UAE event, one of the premier festivals in the Arab world, showcases approximately 90 features, among them just 17 works of nonfiction, down from a slight uptick in last year’s program. Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
In Theatres: BILL FRISELL, A PORTRAIT
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6:
BILL FRISELL, A PORTRAIT
Director:
Emma Franz
Premiere:
SXSW 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Seattle, Nashville, Biografilm, New Zealand, Mill Valley
About:
A portrait of the acclaimed musician.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Bill Frisell is a widely inventive guitarist who crosses musical boundaries. This intimate character portrait “shows a self-deprecating master whose hands seem to float while shaping sonic lines and fields that always surprise with their weird clarity” (Georgia Straight). The eclectic list of musicians in the film includes Bonnie Raitt, Hal Willner, Paul Simon, Nels Cline, John Zorn, and Jack DeJohnette, who treat the audience to generous helpings of music that will be richly satisfying to Frisell’s admirers.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 