what (not) to doc

Coming to PBS’s America ReFramed today, Tuesday, November 15: BY BLOOD

Marcos C Barbery and Sam Russell’s look at the contested identities of freed slaves had its world premiere at New Orleans in 2014. It also screened at Big Sky, Cleveland, deadCENTER, and the San Diego Black film fests.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS tonight, Monday, November 14: SOUNDBREAKING: STORIES FROM THE CUTTING EDGE OF RECORDED MUSIC

Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre’s series on music recording history debuted at SXSW. Its fest circuit has also included DOC NYC and San Francisco, among other events.

I previously wrote about the series for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Produced in association with The Beatles’ legendary producer, the late Sir George Martin, this upcoming PBS series ably takes on the daunting challenge of chronicling the history of music recording and producing. Organized thematically, each episode features scores of original interviews with some of the most celebrated recording artists of all time, from Paul McCartney and Roger Waters to Adele and Questlove, as it offers a behind-the-scenes look at the interaction between performer and technology in creating unforgettable music. Moving between past and present, the well-produced series tells the stories behind the sounds that have defined generations.

Coming to PBS tomorrow, Tuesday, November 15: RIKERS

Marc Levin, Mark Benjamin, and Rolake Bamgbose’s candid exploration of the notorious jail just had its world premiere at DOC NYC this past weekend. It now comes to Thirteen/WNET.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
From executive producer Bill Moyers and a team of producers that includes Marc Levin (CLASS DIVIDE) comes the first film to focus exclusively on former detainees of Rikers Island, offering searing testimonials about the deep-seated culture of systemic violence and corruption that has plagued the notorious NYC jail for decades. From the trauma of entry, through the jail’s brutal systems of control and punishment, to the challenges of life after prison, RIKERS serves as an indictment of mass incarceration.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, November 14: UNDERFIRE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PFC TONY VACCARO

Max Lewkowicz’s tale of a soldier’s stunning photos of WWII made its premiere at Shanghai. It went on to screen at Margaret Mead, Tallgrass, Edmonton, San Diego, and GZDOC, among other events.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, November 11: DON’T LOOK DOWN

Daniel Gordon’s chronicle of Sir Richard Branson’s death-defying ballooning odysseys debuted at Tribeca this Spring. It also screened at the Newport Film Festival.

In 1987, not too long after Branson launched his upstart Virgin Airlines, he hit upon an out-of-the-box promotional idea: an attempt to beat the record for a cross-Atlantic hot air balloon journey, piloted by himself, a novice, and aided by veteran pilot Per Lindstrom – and, of course, plastering the Virgin logo on the giant balloon itself. A few years later, the savvy promoter attempted to recapture the buzz generated from that first, successful trip by ballooning across the Pacific – things didn’t go quite as smoothly, as recounted here. Despite the viewer knowing that, of course, Branson and Lindstrom survived these adventures, Gordon ably constructs an engaging, urgent retelling that serves up a nice amount of tension regardless, taking full advantage of access to breathtaking footage from the trips, archival materials from the press blitz, and interviews with the principals involved.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, November 11: NATIONAL BIRD

Sonia Kennebeck’s look at the consequences of whistleblowing on the US drone program had its world premiere at Berlin this year. Its festival circuit also included Tribeca, San Francisco, Sheffield, Sydney, Melbourne, Camden, Hamburg, and Zurich, among others.

Kennebeck profiles three individuals directly involved with the military drone program. Daniel, who finds himself the subject of an FBI raid, is an anti-establishment peace activist who has some undisclosed connection to drones. Lisa, a former drone technical expert who helped identify targets, is haunted by the collateral damage of her work, visiting Afghanistan to see the consequences on innocent civilians of so-called surgical precision strikes. Finally, Heather, a former analyst, tasked with deciphering often-unclear drone imagery to determine if someone is a child or a combatant, suffers from PTSD, but must fight to get treatment since she was not in physical combat. Because of the potential of being charged as traitors under the 1917 Espionage Act, Kennebeck’s subjects are often constrained from revealing too much about what they know or even what their roles specifically are, in some ways dulling the potential impact of the film, but in other ways lending it an ominous undertone that suits the subject matter, and sparking necessary questions from the viewer about the human costs of this modern form of combat.