Festival:
The 16th SF DocFest
Dates:
May 31-June 15
About:
Approximately 50 features screen at this scrappy San Francisco nonfiction event presented by the SF IndieFest. Continue reading
SF DocFest 2017 Overview
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Overviews, Recommendations
On VOD: BEHEMOTH
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30:
BEHEMOTH
Director:
Zhao Liang
Premiere:
Venice 2015
Select Festivals:
IDFA, New Directors/New Films, Dubai, True/False, DocAviv, Moscow, Sheffield, Melbourne, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Istanbul
About:
A poetic meditation on the environmental impact of China’s rapid economic development.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: FARMER/VETERAN
Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 29:
FARMER/VETERAN
Directors:
Alix Blair and Jeremy M Lange
Premiere:
Dallas 2016
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Big Sky Doc, Cucalorus, Sidewalk, Hot Springs Doc, Brooklyn
About:
An Iraq War veteran finds solace in farming more than from the scores of meds he is prescribed.
Alex is a 32 year old retired US Army Staff Sergeant suffering from PTSD who has turned to farming a small plot of land with his fiancee and eventual wife, Jessica. Shaken after three tours of duty in Iraq, he confesses to having psychotic thoughts, worries about harming the incredibly patient and supportive Jessica, and harbors delusions about his time in the service. Although the couple, and Alex in particular, initially take to farming, its challenges – and those of his mental health concerns – start to catch up with them. Blair and Lange sensitively and compellingly capture their subjects, and the difficult transition from soldier to civilian.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: OUT RUN
Coming to the World Channel’s Doc World series this Sunday, May 28:
OUT RUN
Directors:
S Leo Chiang and Johnny Symons
Premiere:
Full Frame 2016
Select Festivals:
Frameline, LA Asian Pacific, Sheffield DocFest, Inside Out, UN Assoc, NewFest, Hawaii, MIX Brasil, BFI Flare, Cleveland
About:
An LGBT political party attempts to elect openly queer candidates in a primarily Catholic country.
Bemz Benedito heads up Ladlad, the world’s only LGBT political party, based in the Catholic nation of the Philippines, where, despite religiously-motivated bias, LGBT individuals nevertheless make up a visible minority. Benedito, a trans woman, together with two other Ladlad candidates, aims to push this visibility further by running for Congress. With limited resources, they place their hope in a grassroots campaign to mobilize working-class trans beauty salon workers to support their cause, even as a despicable hate monger evangelical pastor stands against them, offensively naming his own group AIDS. Chiang and Symons have located memorable subjects and show a welcome attention to issues of class that are typically ignored, in a well-produced project that otherwise sticks a bit too close to election countdown conventions to generate real surprises.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Special Screening: THE GENIUS AND THE OPERA SINGER
Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Saturday, May 27:
THE GENIUS AND THE OPERA SINGER
Director:
Vanessa Stockley
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2017
About:
An inside look at a toxic mother/daughter relationship.
Almost a mash-up between GREY GARDENS and WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, Stockley’s unusual and discomforting portrait introduces viewers to 55-year-old Jessica and her 91-year-old mother Ruth, who have lived together in a cramped, rent-controlled West Village apartment since 1957. Jessica is introduced first, an opinionated troublemaker who antagonizes the police in the opening scene, and who reveals that she’s just prevailed in a protracted battle to have Ruth released from an eldercare facility after the latter was ruled incompetent and removed from Jessica’s care. But Jessica’s not quite the hero she at first appears to be. Once home, the self-proclaimed genius goes at her mother, a retired one-time opera singer, with such venom, it’s at times hard to watch. There’s a definite line of exploitation that the film skirts, or arguably crosses, in documenting the ravings of someone likely suffering from borderline personality disorder, and the resultant verbal abuse heaped on Ruth. At the same time, Ruth gives as good as she gets, complicating matters in this fascinating portrait of family dysfunction that’s sure to provoke heated discussion and debate among its audience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
In Theatres: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: ADIOS
Coming to theatres today, Friday, May 26:
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: ADIOS
Director:
Lucy Walker
Premiere:
May 2017
About:
The Grammy Award-winning musicians who engendered worldwide interest in Cuban music take a final tour.
I previously profiled the doc when it was originally scheduled to debut at Sundance this past January here. It was unexpectedly withdrawn from the festival before its premiere, reportedly due to post-production delays.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
On TV: JACQUES PÉPIN: THE ART OF CRAFT
Coming to PBS’s American Masters tomorrow, Friday, May 26:
JACQUES PÉPIN: THE ART OF CRAFT
Director:
Peter L Stein
Premiere:
American Masters (May 2017)
About:
A celebration of the acclaimed French chef and his impact on American food culture.
Stein’s entry into the long-running PBS biography series hews close to its conventions, but despite some minor superfluous re-enactments, still manages to serve up an appealing overview of Jacques Pépin’s life and culinary career. The film traces his path from apprentice work in Lyon, success as a young chef in Paris, and appointment to serve French heads of state, only to risk everything by leaving for New York City. Successfully re-establishing himself in a foreign land, he surprisingly declined multiple invitations to serve as the Kennedy White House chef in favor of taking on the challenge of running a test kitchen for Howard Johnson’s. A near-fatal auto accident a decade later set Pépin off on yet another path, putting him in the spotlight as a food writer and television host, and inspiring generations of professional and amateur chefs with his attention to the mastery of the fundamental techniques of cookery. Stein capably covers the culinary icon’s achievements, even as a minor stroke begrudgingly slows down the affable and now octogenarian Pépin from his active schedule of travel and appearances.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
In Theatres & On VOD: JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS SUPERPOWER
Coming to theatres and to VOD via Netflix tomorrow, Friday, May 26:
JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS SUPERPOWER
Director:
Joe Piscatella
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Human Rights Watch London, Hot Docs,
About:
The story of an unlikely champion for Hong Kong’s sovereignty from China.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
In Theatres: LONG STRANGE TRIP
Coming to theatres across the US for tonight only, Thursday, May 25, and through June 2 in NYC/LA:
LONG STRANGE TRIP
Director:
Amir Bar-Lev
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
True/False, SXSW, San Francisco, Hot Docs, Full Frame,
About:
An epic history of the legendary Grateful Dead.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
On DVD: ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL
New to DVD this week:
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL
Director:
Pascal Plisson
Premiere:
Champs-Elysées 2013
Select Festivals:
Locarno, COLCOA LA, Athens, Mill Valley, Portland,
About:
Kids from Kenya, Morocco, Argentina, and India walk hours just to go to school.
Plisson’s earnest project aims to educate viewers of the challenges faced by children around the world in seeking basic education. To that end, he follows four tykes on treacherous trips to school which in some cases take four hours, traverse punishing terrain, and run afoul of dangerous wild animals. It’s well-meaning family programming, but this overly slick production is clearly scripted and stretches its concept ridiculously thin, eschewing providing any substantive information – or proper sense of personality – about its subjects in favor of milking as much audience sympathy as possible from the premise.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
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