what (not) to doc

New to VOD this week:
SURVIVING SKOKIE

Directors:
Eli Adler, Blair Gershkow

Premiere:
Mill Valley 2015

Select Festivals:
Denver, Jewish fests in Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Warsaw

About:
A personal reflection of Holocaust survivors standing up to American neo-Nazis.

In the aftermath of World War II, Jack Adler, like many other Polish Jewish immigrants, settled in Skokie IL, and tried to put their horrific experiences of the Holocaust behind them, rarely, if ever, talking about the past. Decades later, in 1977, Frank Collin, the leader of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Party of America, decided to stage a march through this predominantly Jewish community, ultimately working with the ACLU to defend their First Amendment rights in a case heard by the US Supreme Court. As detailed in this doc, co-directed by Adler’s son, the Skokie Affair served as an impetus to many survivors to band together and speak out against the American Nazi party – and against Collin, himself a self-hating son of a Jewish survivor – and to share their stories of survival. While worthwhile for its message, particularly in the new America’s xenophobic climate, Adler and Gershkow’s project is marred by a too conventional approach heavy on narration and talking heads and also includes an only tangentially-related section following the Adlers’ 2012 visit back to Poland which feels decidedly tacked on to expand the project to barely feature-length.

New to DVD and VOD this week:
DR FEELGOOD: DEALER OR HEALER?

Director:
Eve Marson

Premiere:
Los Angeles 2016

Select Festivals:
Austin, Tallgrass

About:
An exploration of the opioid epidemic through the case of a controversial medical practitioner.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1:
MR GAGA

Director:
Tomer Heymann

Premiere:
Jerusalem 2015

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, SXSW, London, New Orleans, Vilnius, Full Frame, DOK Fest Munich, DOXA, Transilvania, Seattle, Tel Aviv, Sheffield, Shanghai, SF Jewish, Miami Jewish, New Zealand, Bergen, Sao Paulo, RIDM

About:
A portrait of acclaimed Israeli dancer/choreographer Ohad Naharin.

An eight year labor of love for Heymann, this dance doc pieces together the four decade career of Naharin, who only began dancing at 22, after his compulsory service in the Israeli army. His early promise drew the attention of Martha Graham, and later Maurice Bejart, but his iconoclastic spirit proved an ill fit for their modern dance companies, leading Naharin to develop his own work, including Gaga, the movement language which lends this film its name – not at all a reference to the pop star Lady Gaga, though the too insular title may very well lead to confusion and disappointment for some audiences. Viewed as a pioneering figure in modern dance, Naharin, who, since 1990, has been the artistic director of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company, reflects on his long career, including a freedom of expression standoff on the occasion of Israel’s 50th anniversary that elevated him to the status of national hero. Heymann does an admirable job in synthesizing the choreographer’s career and showcasing impressive footage of his dances, which will draw dance film fans, while the political undertones of his work may also provide an entry to some audiences, like me, otherwise indisposed to dance docs.

Coming to PBS’s American Experience tonight, Tuesday, January 31:
THE RACE UNDERGROUND

Director:
Michael Rossi

Premiere:
American Experience (January 2017)

About:
The story of America’s first subway.

On September 1, 1897, the first passengers descended into the Earth, taking a ride on the country’s first subway line, in Boston MA. All told, 250,000 individuals braved the new technology that day, despite a long build-up of fears of gas explosions, superstitions of traveling close to the netherworld, and political obstacles that called into question whether the engineering project would ever be completed. Rossi reveals the origins of the MBTA and its architects, and if he employs the conventional PBS house style, dominated by narration and talking heads, the project nevertheless offers an illuminating look back at the dawn of this vital part of America’s public transport infrastructure. While the title suggests a competition between Boston and other cities, notably New York City, to achieve a subway system, Rossi’s film is almost exclusively concerned with the challenges faced by the former in pulling off their subway and barely makes mention of NYC’s own efforts – the latter did not open until 1904. At the core of Rossi’s film, which is based on urban historian Doug Most’s book by the same name, is Frank Sprague, a young inventor who revolutionized mass transportation with his electric motor-powered trolley cars. A largely unheralded figure in the shadow of the legendary Thomas Edison, who eventually bought his patents and slapped his name on them, Sprague persevered, with the support of real estate mogul Henry Whitney, despite a huge public fight over disturbing the Boston Common.