what (not) to doc

New to DVD this week:
HEARING IS BELIEVING

Director:
Lorenzo DeStefano

Premiere:
Hawaii 2016

About:
A portrait of Rachel Flowers, a blind musical prodigy.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
BARBECUE

Director:
Matthew Salleh

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Sydney

About:
Barbecue traditions around the world.

Salleh’s film profiles several locations and local customs around grilling meat on fire, including South Africa, Japan, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, the Philippines, Uruguay, Armenia, Syria/Jordan refugee camps, Texas, Mexico, and New Zealand. Almost uniformly, participants note the importance of community, coming together, sharing stories as they share food, while also revealing some detail about their specific traditions, from Texan dry rub slow indirect cooked brisket to Swedes’ love of prepackaged picnic ready disposable personal grills. While well-shot, this hopelessly overscored project also is far too long and repetitive, having made its point about the commonality and sociability of the practice within its first few scenes, only to repeat them again and again at each new picturesque location.

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, July 12:
I AM THE BLUES

Director:
Daniel Cross

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, Pan African, Raindance, Salem, Docs Against Gravity, IndieBo

About:
An ethnomusicological tour of the American South.

As signaled by his film’s title, Canadian filmmaker Cross explores the enduring legacy of the blues, not by offering a comprehensive history of the distinctly American genre, but instead by focusing on the aging musicians who are still performing, and, in so doing, keeping their artform alive. Traveling throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, the filmmaker profiles several old-school African-American musicians, many in their 80s, who grew up with the blues by playing the Chitlin’ Circuit, usually barely eking out a living. While Cross offers audiences a showcase of their talents in several demonstrations of their performances – too many in a film nearing two hours – the project’s survey structure and a surfeit of subjects results in a lack of deep exploration or any strong story-driven thread. Still, music fans will likely find much to enjoy in this loving tribute.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 11:
MY LIFE IN CHINA

Director:
Kenneth Eng

Premiere:
San Diego Asian Film Festival 2014

Select Festivals:
Florida, St Louis, Bahamas, and Asian/Asian American fests in Dallas, Boston, and Seattle

About:
A personal look at the sacrifices made by the filmmaker’s father, an immigrant to the US from China.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 11:
CONTEMPORARY COLOR

Directors:
Bill Ross and Turner Ross

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, New Orleans, San Francisco, Montclair, Seattle, Sydney, Bonnaroo, AFI Docs, Guanajuato, Melbourne, Sidewalk, Camden, Denver, St Louis, Indie Memphis, Sound Unseen

About:
A chronicle of a one-night-only musical collaboration conceived by David Byrne celebrating color guard.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 11:
HOTEL DALLAS

Directors:
Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang

Premiere:
Berlin 2016

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Dallas, Docaviv, Maryland, Docs Against Gravity, Sidewalk, Raindance, Hot Springs Doc, Ann Arbor

About:
A hybrid portrait of a Romanian father/daughter duo obsessed with the 1980s American nighttime soap opera.

Drawn from her upbringing in 1980s Cold War-era Romania, Ungur, working with husband Huang, sort of tells the story of the unintended aspirational consequences of allowing Western television programs to infiltrate the Romanian consciousness. Unlike the far more straightforward CHUCK NORRIS VS COMMUNISM, here the idea is used as a launching pad into a phantasmagorical reverie that is far more experimental narrative/art project than documentary, encapsulating the possibly true story of the replica of Southfork built by Ungur’s father, a sunflower oil magnate; narration by a character played by DALLAS’s Patrick Duffy; and disturbing re-enactments by child actors dressed as Communist youth of scenes from both the soap opera and Romania’s troubled past. It’s frankly largely a headscratcher, likely to irritate many viewers with its deliberate obfuscation and quirkiness even as its freeflowing creativity might delight others.

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed this coming Tuesday, July 11:
OXYANA

Director:
Sean Dunne

Premiere:
Tribeca 2013

Select Festivals:
DOXA, IFF Boston, SF Docfest

About:
A portrait of a community besieged by addiction.

I previously wrote about the film out of Tribeca here.