Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 12:
NALEDI: A BABY ELEPHANT’S TALE
Directors:
Ben Bowie and Geoff Luck
Premiere:
Seattle 2016
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Virginia, Fairhope, Wildscreen, Ajyal Youth
About:
A baby elephant’s fight for survival underscores the need to protect the endangered species.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 12:
ARCHITECTS OF DENIAL
Director:
David Lee George
Premiere:
October 2017 (limited theatrical/VOD)
About:
A revisitation of the 1915 Armenian genocide and the legacy of its official denial over the past century.
An earnest if poorly executed project, George’s film aims to be a forceful call to action insisting on the official acknowledgement that the Ottoman Empire committed a genocidal act on more than a million Armenians in 1915. Turkey and its allies, including the US, have consistently refused to acknowledge the genocide, despite the existence of evidence both contemporaneously and that uncovered in more recent years, as well as the use of the term by the Pope and a growing number of other high profile individuals. This project assembles a parade of talking heads – most strangely and uncritically including Julian Assange – to review the historical record and to spin a conspiratorial view of Turkish influence on the US, an alarmist tale of impending violence in the region as a result, ill-thought-out guerrilla ambushes of politicians about their denialism, and attempts to draw direct lines between the Armenian genocide to the Nazi’s Final Solution and other examples of genocide over the past 100 years, all set to an incessant, irritating score and with the over-use of intertitles that make this feel like an amateur film. While there’s obviously merit to the idea that the genocide should be finally officially acknowledged, this clunky polemic is ill-suited to have much impact.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, December 11:
HAPPENING: A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION
Director:
James Redford
Premiere:
Mill Valley 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Woodstock
About:
A hands-on exploration of current efforts to use renewable energy sources.
Is it possible for America to meet its energy needs via renewable sources, or is our country fated to remain addicted to fossil fuels? Director James Redford sets out on a far-ranging quest to get a sense of what our progress is today for a sustainable tomorrow. Checking in with a diverse range of stakeholders, representing federal, corporate, entrepreneurial, and community efforts, the affable filmmaker offers an informative and hopeful look at the clean energy revolution already taking place.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
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
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
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
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
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
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
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
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
what (not) to doc 