what (not) to doc

Coming to theatres this Friday, March 31:
TONY CONRAD: COMPLETELY IN THE PRESENT

Director:
Tyler Hubby

Premiere:
Chicago Underground 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Leeds, Cork, Rotterdam, Big Sky Doc, Ann Arbor

About:
A portrait of the late, pioneering artist.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Filmed over the past two decades, acclaimed editor Tyler Hubby’s feature directorial debut captures the freewheeling creativity of the groundbreaking avant-garde multimedia artist Tony Conrad, whose work in experimental film and video, music, and sound art – and even public television – spans more than 50 years. From flicker films and drone music to collaborations with Jack Smith and Lou Reed, Conrad playfully and joyously pushed the limits of art in its various forms, inspiring the likes of the Velvet Underground, Moby, and the Yes Men.

Coming to theatres and to VOD this Friday, March 31:
ALL THIS PANIC

Director:
Jenny Gage

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Tribeca, Camden, Vancouver, London, Göteborg, Glasgow, CPH:DOX, Cleveland

About:
A portrait of teen girls coming of age.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Teenagers grow up fast, but perhaps nowhere else quite so rapidly as in New York City. Fine art photographers-turned-filmmakers Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton turn their cameras on Ginger and Dusty, the teenage daughters of their Brooklyn neighbors, and capture their coming of age as it unfolds over three years. Beyond profiling the contrasting personalities of the sisters, this intimate, enchanting film expands into their social circle to include five other girls, each finding her own way. Gage and Betterton balance the excitement and drama of growing up with the bittersweet changes young adulthood brings to family and friendships.

Coming to theatres this Friday, March 31:
DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE

Directors:
Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm

Premiere:
Venice 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, London, Taipei Golden Horse, Rotterdam, SXSW, CPH:PIX, Hong Kong

About:
The famed filmmaker reflects on his origins as a visual artist.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
While known for his distinctive, dreamlike films like BLUE VELVET and MULHOLLAND DRIVE, David Lynch began his creative explorations through art, originally training as a painter in Philadelphia. This candid profile grants viewers unparalleled, intimate access to the enigmatic auteur while he works in his painting studio. Early memories and reflections on his formative years through the triumph of ERASERHEAD reveal eerie connections to his body of work, making this portrait an indispensable look at an artist and his process.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 28:
FOR GRACE

Directors:
Kevin Pang and Mark Helenowski

Premiere:
SXSW 2015

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nashville, Hot Docs, Bentonville, Documentary Edge, Seattle, SF Doc Fest, Melbourne, Chicago, Tallgrass

About:
A portrait of a chef as he embarks on the opening of his new restaurant.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO next Monday, March 27:
ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Directors:
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

Premiere:
HBO (March 2017)

About:
A Florida prison program provides a last chance for young perpetrators to avoid extensive sentences.

The Miami-Dade County Corrections & Rehabilitation Boot Camp Program puts young inmates through their paces over 16 arduous weeks in the hopes that the experience will help them turn their lives around before they become part of the revolving door of the prison system. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who executive produced the project, knows this world well, having had run-ins with the law as a youth. Appearing in the film, he encourages the young men to take advantage of the program, no matter how difficult the drill instructors push them, knowing that on the other end is the possibility of a new start. Alpert and O’Neill follow several subjects through the rigorous boot camp, designed to break them down through psychological and physical tests, encourage them to break bad habits, learn discipline, and prepare them for life on the outside so that they don’t once again return to lives of crime. While subjects aren’t individuated particularly well, the overall setting is very effectively conveyed, offering viewers an often intense and affecting experience.

Coming to theatres and to VOD this Friday, March 24:
AMERICAN ANARCHIST

Director:
Charlie Siskel

Premiere:
Venice 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hamptons, Chicago, Vienna, Stockholm, Thessaloniki Doc, Vilnius, Cleveland

About:
The author of a notorious book is forced to reckon with its destructive impact.

In 1970, William Powell, a 19-year-old disaffected anti-establishment activist, compiled recipes for explosives culled from US Army manuals found in the New York Public Library, and combined them with a radical manifesto calling for the overthrow of the government. The result: The Anarchist Cookbook. Finding a publisher all-too-happy to capitalize on the social unrest of the period, Powell’s screed generated outrage and has stayed in print over the decades, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. As Siskel all-too-frequently is ready to remind the now 65-year-old Powell, it also has been linked to a long list of heinous crimes, from Columbine and Aurora to abortion clinic bombings and Oklahoma City. Tracking down the author, who long ago denounced his tome as misguided and who has spent the intervening decade as an educator focused on special needs students, the director challenges him to face the deadly consequences of his infamous work, which, despite any efforts to contain its dangerous reach, seems destined to live on in perpetuity in the age of the Internet.