Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, April 25:
AWARE: GLIMPSES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Director:
Frauke Sandig, Eric Black
World Premiere:
Hof 2020
Select Festivals:
Docs Against Gravity, Melbourne Doc, Maui, Illuminate
About:
Six researchers take radically different approaches in their investigation of the mysteries of consciousness.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Apple TV+ today, Friday, April 22:
THEY CALL ME MAGIC
Director:
Rick Famuyiwa
World Premiere:
Apple TV+ (April 2022)
About:
A docuseries offering an intimate look at the life and legacy of sports icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Film Movement Plus today, Friday, April 22:
HAMADA
Director:
Eloy Domínguez Serén
World Premiere:
IDFA 2018
Select Festivals:
Tempo Doc, Göteborg, Gijon, Doc Montevideo, Cinéma du Réel
About:
A portrait of several of the forgotten Sahrawi people, abandoned in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert ever since Morocco drove them out of Western Sahara forty years ago.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres and virtual cinema tomorrow, Friday, April 22:
THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE
Director:
Iryna Tsilyk
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Berlin, IDFA, Hot Docs, Doc Fortnight, Thessaloniki Doc, ZagrebDox, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Docudays UA, Reykjavik, Zurich, Dokufest, Adelaide, Seattle
About:
A Ukrainian family processes life in a war zone by making films about their experience.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to Film Movement Plus tomorrow, Friday, April 22:
FAR WESTERN
Director:
James Payne
World Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
Full Frame, Krakow, deadCenter
About:
An exploration of how American country music was transplanted to post-World War II Japan, captivating a loyal audience to the present day.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Netflix today, Wednesday, April 20:
CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE JOHN WAYNE GACY TAPES
Director:
Joe Berlinger
World Premiere:
Netflix (April 2022)
About:
An exploration of how John Wayne Gacy – an aspiring politician, beloved local contractor, and part-time clown-for-hire who murdered 33 young men between 1972 and 1976 – operated for so long with impunity.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to Hulu tomorrow, Thursday, April 21:
CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: A REAL AMERICAN HORROR STORY
Director:
Jessica Dimmock
World Premiere:
Hulu release (April 2022)
About:
A docuseries following the story of Steven Stayner and his family’s 50-year journey to unravel the tale of two brothers, one deemed a villain and the other a hero.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Newly re-released on DVD this week:
FROM THE JOURNALS OF JEAN SEBERG
Director:
Mark Rappaport
World Premiere:
Toronto 1995
Select Festivals:
Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Karlovy Vary, Cleveland
About:
Ill-fated actress Jean Seberg – portrayed by Mary Beth Hurt – reflects on her life as illustrated through her work in this creative exploration of film history and women’s place within it.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Netflix today, Tuesday, April 19:
WHITE HOT: THE RISE & FALL OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
Director:
Alison Klayman
World Premiere:
Netflix release (April 2022)
About:
The story of Abercrombie & Fitch’s emergence as one of the most successful teen lifestyle brands in American history — and the dark inner workings of exclusionary practices and systematic racism that led to the company’s decline.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
SYL JOHNSON: ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS
Director:
Rob Hatch-Miller
World Premiere:
Chicago 2015
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Big Sky Doc, Montclair, BlackStar, Nashville, Florida, Newport Beach, Sidewalk, Indie Memphis, Sound Unseen, Cork, Doc ‘n Roll
About:
A retired, overlooked soul singer finds new opportunities when his song is embraced by a new generation of musicians.
The film screened at DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Despite a couple of minor hits, soul singer Syl Johnson retired from the music industry in the 1980s, never quite having achieved the success for which he longed. But with the dawn of hip hop came the unexpected, widespread embrace of his 1967 song “Different Strokes” – sampled by artists as diverse as Run-DMC, Michael Jackson, the Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, A$AP Rocky, Kid Rock, En Vogue, Usher, and Kanye West, among many others – and new opportunities for the savvy performer emerged, as detailed in Rob Hatch-Miller’s lively chronicle of the ups and downs of Johnson’s career.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 