what (not) to doc

Coming to theatres and to Netflix today, Friday, October 20:
ONE OF US

Directors:
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Mill Valley, Philadelphia

About:
A candid look at what happens when individuals try to leave the insular Hasidic community of NYC.

The film is screening as part of DOC NYC’s Short List, for which our program notes read:
Oscar®-nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (JESUS CAMP, DETROPIA), recipients of the Robert & Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence at this year’s DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute, “have made their most powerful and complex film” (The Hollywood Reporter). Their latest project profiles three members of New York’s Hasidic Jewish community who wish to explore more secular lives. To do so puts them at risk of leaving behind their families and facing hostile opposition. As their stories unfold over several months, the film plays like a suspenseful thriller.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, October 20:
JANE

Director:
Brett Morgen

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Mill Valley, London, Philadelphia, Chicago

About:
A poetic portrait of the life and work of primatologist Jane Goodall.

The film is screening as part of DOC NYC’s Short List, for which our program notes read:
In the 1960s, National Geographic sent a cameraman to film Jane Goodall’s pioneering work with chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. More than 50 years later, filmmaker Brett Morgen (KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK, ON THE ROPES) gained access to over 140 hours of this remarkable 16mm color footage. Morgen combines this archival material with a new interview with Goodall to craft a romantic epic of her formative years, set to an original score by Philip Glass. The film “transcends the boundaries of both nature film and biography” (The Hollywood Reporter).

Coming to theatres and VOD tomorrow, Friday, October 20:
DEALT

Director:
Luke Korem

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Dallas, Sarasota, IFF Boston, deadCENTER, Shanghai, New Zealand, Bergen

About:
A portrait of an acclaimed card magician who also happens to be blind.

Richard Turner has nurtured a love for playing cards into a lifelong career. While he prefers the term “card mechanic,” most would describe his sleight-of-hand proficiency as magic. Impressive as his tricks may be, they make an even bigger impact when it’s revealed that Turner is blind. As detailed in Korem’s engaging portrait, however, Turner has actively resisted being described as blind, and has typically passed as sighted, relying on his son Asa to assist him in public. When Asa must leave his father’s side for college, Turner finally must reckon with his disability and come to accept it, jettisoning decades of stubbornness and pride, and learning from the example set by his sister, who is also blind, and, like Turner, also hyper-capable.