ReelPolitik

SXSW Film 2016 Honors the Past While Facing an Exciting, Gaudy and Uncertain Future

Anne Thompson — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 18:23:29 GMT

The night before the SXSW Film Festival got under way, Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, defended his communal love of film in theaters. "In pursuing the new future, we cannot decimate the past," he said in his acceptance speech as one of the honorees at the Texas Film Awards, the annual benefit for Richard Linklater's now 30-year-old Austin Film Society.

Watching the Sony Classics reel, the crucial art films I grew up on over the decades sped past. From Truffaut's "The Last Metro" and Merchant/Ivory's "Howards End" to more recent Oscar-winners "Blue Jasmine," "Alice" and "Son of Saul," I felt a twinge of loss. SXSW is all about change, and forward motion. But in our rush toward digital immediacy, we lose something too.

While Barker and partner Tom Bernard's Sony Classics remains the very model of a theatrically driven and adaptive studio specialty subsidiary, the world is changing around them. 35 mm is no longer a viable exhibition format, directors have to fight to shoot with celluloid, and distributors are increasingly challenged to lure consumers away from mobile and home-viewing options in favor of a theater.

Also fighting the good fight is Linklater. He announced construction on the Austin Film Society's new two-screen theatre, "showing repertory, international and arthouse films every day of the week," which will boast a 35 mm projector. Meanwhile, more local exhibitors are turning to alternative content like TCM Classic Movies to grab their customers—most of whom are well over 30, if not 60.

Linklater has enjoyed an enviably idiosyncratic career since his pre-SXSW 1991 Sundance breakout "Slacker" (picked up by Barker and Bernard). He's moved through a wide range of budgets and subjects, from animated "Waking Life" and the walking and talking "Before Sunrise" series to "Dazed and Confused," which Alphaville's Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks made with Universal chairman Tom Pollock. Universal couldn't figure out how to sell a Texas coming of age film with a young indie filmmaker and no-name cast (including Ben Affleck and Matthew "all right, all right" McConaughey) at the box office; "Dazed and Confused" eventually emerged as a cult homevideo classic.

After Linklater made commercial hit "School of Rock" in 2003 at Paramount, the studio developed the 1980 Austin film that became "Everybody Wants Some!!" And, as he said at his New York pre-SXSW party, it was still tough to get it made. The film took a decade to go into production, just as "Boyhood" hit big and headed for awards contention. However, it may be deja vu all over again: Cast with unknowns, the movie is hugely entertaining, shot with the same "Dazed and Confused" aesthetic (and many of the same crew, including long-time Linklater editor Sandra Adair), and Paramount is hedging its bets: "Everybody Wants Some!!" will go out via platform release April 1.

It's a struggle that speaks to why, these days, emerging film directors tend to find more work in television, from SXSW stars the Duplass brothers, who keep their film budgets low, to director-actress Amy Seimetz ("The Killing," "The Girlfriend Experience") and Lena Dunham, whose HBO series "Girls" launched SXSW Film's move into television premieres. These are now major draws, from "Broad City" panels to the outdoor preview exhibit “Welcome to Annville," which ties to AMC’s supernatural comic-book drama, "Preacher" (November) starring Dominic Cooper (from executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg); that will premiere at SXSW March 14.

As for the movies at SXSW, buzz has started as film buffs spread the word on opening-night titles like Joey Klein's bleak romance "The Other Half," starring real-life couple Tatiana Maslany and Tom Cullen. But it can be tough for the film side of SXSW to grab attention from the rest of the festival — even after President Obama had left town.

At SXSW 2016, everyone hovers on street corners searching for their Uber or Lyft drivers. Downtown Austin resembles San Diego's Comic-Con with its countless showrooms, meet-up tables, and brand marketing opportunities like the "Mr. Robot" ferris wheel, Capital One House, and pedicabs bedecked with HBO's "Game of Thrones.

As at Comic-Con and Sundance, the noise of the corporate world trying to nab a piece of the smart digital-driven demo at SXSW has gotten a lot louder. Interactive was SXSW's growth engine for four years, but attendance stabilized in 2015 and 2016 (2015 attendance included 30,000 music, 33,000 interactive and 20,000 film participants). "'Twas the night before SXSW and all through this hotel lobby bar there are Interactive nerds drinking wine talking about Macs and Minecraft," tweeted The Daily Beast's @jenyamato.

SXSW attendees lined up around the block to get into fashion and lifestyle site Refinery29's opening night high-school-themed "The School of Self Expression" party, serving miniaturized high school snacks on molded cafeteria trays to guests including Kate Bosworth.

"SXSW is about youth and the future," eight-year SXSW veteran and Refinery29 cofounder Philippe von Borries told me. "It's forward looking, but it's a dude-centric world. SXSW events used to attract diehard geeks who love technology. It then became about big marketing events, as brands started coming in. That's blown up in the last few years. Now there’s a much larger female presence, more style, more creativity in the air."

Targeted to millennial women, Refinery29 lures 150 million visitors a month with content ranging from horoscopes to in-depth interviews with Hillary Clinton, pushed out via social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. "It's about self-expression and empowering women, bringing content from incredible female voices from around the world: style, fashion, beauty, global issues, health, wellness," said Von Borries.

And it may be companies like Refinery29 that will shape the future of SXSW. Video is driving Refinery29's next evolution; at Sundance, it announced the "Shatterbox Anthology," a 12-part series of shorts directed by women. Produced by Killer Films' Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler, it will debut this spring with "Kitty," the directing debut of actress Chloe Sevigne. And Von Borries is proud of Jill Soloway's darkly irreverent six-part comedy series "The Skinny," about a young woman with an eating disorder, which "goes to places other media companies are not going."

Goodbye, ReelPolitik

Anthony Kaufman — Fri, 29 May 2015 20:17:14 GMT

I started blogging—reluctantly—in April 2004.

In my first blog post, creatively titled “My First Blog” (which is now lost in a black hole of 404 URL errors), I wrote: “The whole thing seems like a waste of time. As if we didn't have enough information to sift through already, do we really need more? And do I really have the time to write anymore than I already do?”

But then, of course, the world changed, and blogging became an essential sideline for every writer and journalist, now pressed to stay relevant within the new media universe. Soon my blog became less a place for random musings and more a place to incite debate, gain readers, and try to spark change within the film industry and regarding other issues that mattered.

In the first years of blogging, my favorite early posts involved attacks on "The Passion of the Christ"; a bourgeoning Tribeca Film Festival; the reaction of audiences to Dan Talbot’s 2004 speech at the Gotham Awards; my Sundance encounter with Ruthe Stein; the International Documentary Association; hyping "mumblecore"; Paul Haggis's "Crash"; and changes at the newly bought-out Village Voice.

Then, in 2011, as Indiewire expanded its blog network, I re-launched and rebranded my blog, calling it “ReelPolitik.” I came out with this grandiose manifesto, where I railed against international conglomerates, Hollywood, the right-wing media machine, and quoted from the great rabble-rouser, John Waters, who once told me: "Going to movies is political, how you watch them is political, why you like them is political and how they are distributed is political."

I still agree. And for a time, especially during the heat of the 2012 Election Season, ReelPolitik had a good run. I exposed the wrongdoings of film companies; I taunted conservatives; and I lambasted rightwing themes in mainstream Hollywood films. Even the late great rightwing iconoclast Andrew Breitbart himself added a comment to one of the posts.

Even though the country and the planet has been going downhill ever since, despite a few brief triumphs (universal healthcare, the Arab Spring, big Oscar wins for “A Separation” and “12 Years a Slave”), I still think there is a great need for ReelPolitik—a place where films and the film industry can be examined within a political context.

But with the arrival of Twitter, the lack of worthwhile compensation for blogging, and my own personal shift into the world of film programming, I have agreed to let ReelPolitik go (for now). I just didn’t have the time or selflessness to keep it up. Plus, Indiewire needs ever-greater traffic-drivers than I can provide.

My hope is that ReelPolitik can be reborn and hosted at another website, where its mission can continue with more contributors and a new injection of passion. Frankly, I think a film and politics blog that isn’t simply a reflection of my voice, but the collective VOICE of the independent film community makes more sense, anyway. Let’s try to get something up and running before Election 2016.

You can still look for me on Twitter (@antkaufman), and please keep reading my thoughts at Indiewire in my documentary column, "Reality Checks."

PBS Launches Indies Initiative; Will it Stick?

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 17:59:11 GMT

After a several-month, multi-city listening tour, PBS, its New York affiliate, WNET, and indie documentary leaders POV and ITVS have come to an agreement, and hashed out a multi-point plan to ensure that the two documentary series, "POV" and the ITVS-produced "Independent Lens" "reach the widest possible audience," according to a press release.

Kartemquin Films' Gordon Quinn, who has been a spokesperson for the Indie Caucus, an indie-documentary advocacy group, said he was "encouraged" by the announcement. "One of our key concerns was to see them all working together to come up with innovative and effective ways to build the audience and impact of the independent documentary series they feature," he said. "As these new PBS initiatives roll out we plan to be supportive and stay engaged as the details become clearer."

One of the major outcomes of the negotiations was that Independent Lens and POV will retain their 10pm broadcast slot on most PBS stations, including WNET.

Other initiatives as part of what PBS is calling their "new programming strategy" around indies include:

- Programming "events" tied to independent films, such as thematically-related programming to optimize audience flow throughout the night.

- The launch of an outreach effort across social media channels to connect with independent film fans, including the relaunch of its independent film website, pbs.org/indiefilms.

- PBS and its distribution arm, PBS Distribution, will support several theatrical releases of independent films (including Stanley Nelson's “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” this fall).

- PBS Distribution has entered into a licensing agreement with Indieflix, a subscription-based streaming service for independent film. Starting in May 2015, more than 85 PBS films will be available to Indieflix’s growing subscriber base.

- PBS LearningMedia, a free media on-demand service from PBS and WGBH, will create a curriculum for a non-credit college course on documentary film that highlights films from "Independent Lens" and "POV," along with other documentaries in the PBS broadcast schedule.

10 Top Docs at the Tribeca Film Festival

Anthony Kaufman — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 15:23:08 GMT

There were many more documentaries to see at Tribeca than the 10 (plus 1) I've listed below. But I'm a highly targeted viewer, seeking out only films that I think I will appreciate. As always, I missed many (and will have to catch up at a later date to "Havana Motor Club," "Songs of Lahore," "Palio," "All Eyes and Ears," and others), but I was fairly satisfied with the bunch that I saw. Below, an alphabetical list of mostly World premieres, and one more that I can't forget.

The Birth of Sake - Erik Shirai's beautifully crafted and contemplative non-narrative portrait of sake makers working in the fading age-old traditional fashion may sound a bit like "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." But the film is very much its own creature. Patiently told and exquisitely photographed, with an array of refreshingly warm characters, the film's only drama unexpectedly comes when that close-knit family of artisanal workers is wrenched apart by a random event.

Crocodile Gennadiy - Director Steve Hoover ("Blood Brother") finds a rich and complicated subject in its longitudinal study of a Ukrainian pastor-turned-activist named Gennadiy Mokhenko. The pastor (who looks more like a Russian hockey-player) rescues drug-addled homeless kids by forcibly, sometimes violently, grabbing them off the streets, throwing them in a van and taking them to a shelter, where he offers them tough love, a home, and in some cases, even an adopted family. A riveting and disturbing film, which skillfully balances the story of one individual trying to save his town and its future.

Democrats (North American premiere) - With extraordinary access and a compelling story, this bittersweet verite story follows the complex process of democracy-making in a dictatorship. It's also a subtle and revealing dual character portrait of the two very different men--one buoyant and volatile, the other quiet and controlled--at the center of the negotiations.

Fastball -- What could have been a bland look at fast-throwing baseball pitchers becomes a more engaging and revealing look at subjectivity and the science of measurement.

In My Father's House - This tender and moving portrait chronicles Chicago rapper Che 'Rhymefest' Smith's quest to reconnect with his father, an alcoholic who lives on the streets. An unlikely entry from Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg ("The Trials of Darryl Hunt," "The Devil Came on Horseback"), the film avoids sentimentality and predictable happy-ever-after family reunion storytelling for a more bracingly real depiction of everyday life

Roseanne for President - Surprisingly moving, and with its election-doc structure, mostly compelling, the film charts groundbreaking comedienne Roseanne Barr's bid for the Green Party nomination for President. Barr comes across as a passionate and refreshingly crass individual, speaking truth to power, while America's third-party system is proven to be dysfunctional and ineffectual.

Thank You for Playing - In its profoundly moving story of a father creating a video game about raising his terminally ill son, David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall's remarkable film accomplishes the impossible: It avoids easy sentimentality. It's a full half-way into the film before someone cries, and when they do, the tears will undoubtedly flow along with them. But its patient and careful approach, along with the process of video-game design itself, creates a fascinatingly distant space to explore the film's ideas about death, loss, parenthood, God, and bereavement.

Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle - A straightforward, but highly effective expose about the police's use of TASER stun guns, the film spreads the blame around, from the police who misuse the tool to the fledgling corporation that has spread misinformation about its product.

Uncertain -- With its beautifully photographed images of thickly vegetative waterways along the Lousiana-Texas border, this evocative portrait of the small backwoods town of Uncertain, TX risks overly aestheticizing its subject matter. But ultimately, its focus on three different men surprisingly and welcomely has a sensitive side, with an underlying story of personal redemption and survival at its core. The quest of one man with a dark past to hunt down and kill a boar with a horse's head is story enough alone to drive this atmospheric bayou-based journey.

Plus 1:

Stranded in Canton - I want to give another shout-out to a wry hybrid fiction-doc about a Congolese t-shirt seller stuck in Guangzhou, which I saw at CPH: DOX. I had called the film "just the kind of oddity that would never get a center stage platform at other festivals" (and true to form, the film was programmed in a Tribeca sidebar). Directed by Swedish director Mans Mansson, and conceived in collaboration with Chinese filmmaker Hongqi Li ("Winter Vacation"), the documentary has a central protagonist that is pure fiction, but the entire project was improvised. At times feeling like a mix of Claire Denis and Jia Zhangke, the result is a strange, sad, funny and revealing portrait of displacement, and a new kind of globalization: East meets African.

How did the director of "Blood Brother" make one of my favorite Tribeca Docs?

Anthony Kaufman — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 14:23:29 GMT

In Indiewire's review of Steve Hoover's new documentary "Crocodile Gennadiy" (great doc, bad title) playing at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, the critic evokes the dreaded label "poverty porn" as one of the main risks for the filmmaker tackling such a topic. Fortunately, Hoover never falls into that trap--this time. But Hooper's previous Sundance doc winner "Blood Brother" was exactly that: a prettified, awkwardly Westernized perspective on poor, HIV+ Indian youth.

I wrote about "Blood Brother" in this very context here, writing:

"'Blood Brother,' as well-intentioned as it may be, presents a view of India's poor children--in this case, orphans infected with HIV--that allows the viewer to wash their hands of the pain of these poor others. By focusing yet again on a Western outsider who swoops in to save the children, the film misses its mark, emphasizing the struggles of this conflicted American wanderer rather than giving a fuller understanding of the far more painfully tragic lives of those he wants to help."

Hoover seems to have learned from his mistakes with his follow-up "Crocodile Gennadiy," a far superior film, which successfully avoids such colonialist naval-gazing and finds a rich and complicated subject in its longitudinal study of a Ukrainian pastor-turned-activist named Gennadiy Mokhenko. Rather than the misplaced American center that derailed "Blood Brother," Hoover focuses here on the controversial figure of Mokhenko. The pastor (who looks more like a Russian hockey-player) rescues drug-addled homeless kids by forcibly, sometimes violently, grabbing them off the streets, throwing them in a van and taking them to a shelter, where he offers them tough love, a home, and in some cases, even an adopted family. And you should see what he does to the adult junkies who supply the kids their fix.

While "Blood Brother" exoticized its foreign setting with overly lush cinematography, "Crocodile Gennadiy" portrays the urban Ukrainian industrial landscapes in haunting, evocative hues. While "Blood Brother" suffered from maudlin sentimentality, "Crocodile Gennadiy" earns its tears. Audiences can disagree with Mokhenko's tactics, or criticize him for being a media whore, but when you see him and his wife taking in more than a dozen screwed-up kids with love, devotion and not a bit of judgement, the many shades of the man come into focus with intimacy and authenticity.

"Crocodile Gennadiy" is not a slam-dunk commercially (they also have to change that impossible title -- which Indiewire's review misspelled at least once, as others will surely do in the future). But it's a riveting and disturbing film, which skillfully balances the story of one individual trying to save his town and its youth, while his entire country is also slowly falling apart around him.

April 2015 Film Preview

Tory Kamen and Becca Rose — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:00:00 GMT

Summer blockbuster season is just around the corner, but there's no need to wait until then to see a great movie. April brings us a wide variety of women-centric projects, as well as quite a few films helmed and/or written by women.

The month starts off with "Woman in Gold," starring Helen Mirren as a Jewish woman on a journey to recover her family's heirlooms, which was stolen by the Nazis. It's based on a true story, and Mirren roots the film with her powerful presence. "Closer to the Moon" is another WWII-era drama set for an April release, this one based on the crime capers of a group of Jewish resistance fighters a few years after the end of the war. "Marie's Story" is another period piece, centering around the efforts of a 19th-century nun to help a girl born blind and deaf.

There are a few more women-focused dramas being released in April, including the much-buzzed "Clouds of Sils Maria," which garnered Kristen Stewart the prestigious Cesar Award for supporting actress. Stewart has made waves for being the first American actress to win the French award, and the film looks to capitalize on that with its American release. “Félix & Meira" is another award-winner coming out this month. The Best Canadian Feature from the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival aims to make its mark with the story of an unconventional and radical love affair, one that reaches across racial and religious lines. "About Elly" also confronts cultural biases with its depiction of Iran's upper middle class.

"Effie Gray" tackles the sexual politics of the Victorian era, and with a screenplay from Emma Thompson, it's sure to be intriguing as well as quick-witted. Speaking of intriguing, "The Age of Adaline" follows a woman who mysteriously stopped aging eight decades ago. Blake Lively centers the film as Adaline, struggling with love and trust and all the other things that might follow when one lives seemingly forever.

Courteney Cox makes her big-screen directorial debut (the actress has previously directed episodes of "Cougar Town," which she stars in) with "Just Before I Go," and screenwiter Gren Wells makes hers as well with "The Road Within." Director Mia Hansen-Løve ("Goodbye First Love") directs Greta Gerwig in "Eden," a look at the rise of French electronic music in the 90s.

The month will also see the release of a few very different documentaries. "The Hand That Feeds" focuses on undocumented immigrants struggling to form an independent union, while "Iris" follows 93-year-old Iris Apfel, a flamboyant New York City fashion icon. "Antarctic Edge: 70° South" is focused on the changing climate of the Antarctic's Peninsula and was made with the collaboration of Rutgers University students and scientists.

We'll also see comedic projects featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Alex of Venice") and Rose Byrne ("Adult Beginners"). Nia Vardalos returns to the screen with a role in "Helicopter Mom," which promises an outrageous performance from the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star. "Sweet Lorraine" and "Farah Goes Bang" round out the women-centric comedy offerings of the month.

Here are all the women-centric films opening in the month of April. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.

April 1

Woman in Gold

"Woman in Gold" is the remarkable true story of one woman’s journey to reclaim her heritage and seek justice for what happened to her family. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt’s famous painting "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I." Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), she embarks upon a major battle, which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court, and forces her to confront difficult truths about the past along the way.

April 3

The Hand That Feeds (doc) - Co-Written and Co-Directed by Rachel Lears

At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. But behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick. Mild-mannered sandwich maker Mahoma López has never been interested in politics, but in January 2012 he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back.

Risking deportation and the loss of their livelihood, the workers team up with a diverse crew of innovative young organizers and take the unusual step of forming their own independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. In one roller-coaster year, they must overcome a shocking betrayal and a two-month lockout. Lawyers will battle in back rooms, Occupy Wall Street protesters will take over the restaurant, and a picket line will divide the neighborhood. If they can win a contract, it will set a historic precedent for low-wage workers across the country. But whatever happens, Mahoma and his coworkers will never be exploited again.

Effie Gray - Written by Emma Thompson

In her original screenplay “Effie Gray,” Emma Thompson takes a bold look at the real-life story of the Effie Gray-John Ruskin marriage, while courageously exposing what was truly hiding behind the veil of their public life. Set in a time when neither divorce nor gay marriage were an option, “Effie Gray” is the story of a young woman (Dakota Fanning) coming of age and finding her own voice in a world where women were expected to be seen but not heard. “Effie Gray” explores the roots of sexual intolerance, which continue to have a stronghold today, while shedding light on the marital politics of the Victorian era.

April 8

About Elly

As with director Asghar Farhadi's better-known films, “About Elly” concerns the affluent, well-educated, cultured, and only marginally religious members of Iran's upper-middle class. Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti), a pretty young woman invited as a possible romantic interest for one of the newly single men among this group, disappears suddenly without a trace. The festive atmosphere quickly turns frantic as friends accuse one another of responsibility. Plot-wise, Farhadi's drama has been compared to “L’Avventura”; but the film is less concerned with Elly's disappearance per se than with exploring the intricate mechanisms of deceit, brutality, and betrayal which come into play when ordinary circumstances take a tragic turn.

April 10

Clouds of Sils Maria

At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then, she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena. She departs with her assistant (Kristen Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps. A young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) is to take on the role of Sigrid, and Maria finds herself on the other side of the mirror, face to face with an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself.

The Sisterhood of Night - Directed by Caryn Waechter and Written by Marilyn Fu

Based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steven Millhauser, "The Sisterhood of Night" is a story of friendship and loyalty set against the backdrop of a modern-day Salem witch trial. Shot on location in Kingston, NY, the film chronicles a group of girls who have slipped out of the world of social media into a mysterious world deep in the woods. The tale begins when Emily Parris (Kara Hayward) exposes a secret society of teenage girls. Accusing them of committing sexually deviant acts, Emily’s allegations throw their small American town into the national media spotlight. The mystery deepens when each of the accused takes a vow of silence. What follows is a chronicle of three girls’ unique and provocative alternative to the loneliness of adolescence, revealing the tragedy and humor of teenage years changed forever by the Internet age.

Farah Goes Bang - Directed by Meera Menon, Written by Laura Goode and Meera Menon

A road-trip comedy that centers on Farah (Nikohl Boosheri), a twenty-something woman who tries to lose her virginity while campaigning for John Kerry in 2004. Farah and her friends K.J. and Roopa follow the campaign trail to Ohio, seizing this charged moment in their lives and the life of their country.

April 17

Closer to the Moon

Set in 1959 Bucharest, “Closer to the Moon” opens as the crime is hatched and executed by old friends from the WWII Jewish Resistance, who seek to recapture the excitement of their glory days. Led by a chief police inspector (Mark Strong) and a political academic (Vera Farmiga), the quintet also includes a respected history professor (Christian McKay), a hotshot reporter (Joe Armstrong), and a space scientist (Tim Plester). Their postwar influence fading amid an ongoing Stalinist purge of Jews and intellectuals, the disillusioned gang retaliates by hijacking a van delivering cash to the Romanian National Bank, staging the robbery to make it look like a movie shoot. Caught and convicted in a kangaroo court, the culprits, with help from an eyewitness (Harry Lloyd) to the robbery, are forced to reenact their crime in a devious anti-Semitic propaganda film.

Felix & Meira

Winner of Best Canadian Feature at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, “Félix & Meira” is the story of an unconventional romance between two people living vastly different realities mere blocks away from one another. Each lost in their everyday lives, Meira (Hadas Yaron), a Hasidic Jewish wife and mother, and Félix (Martin Dubreuil), a Secular loner mourning the recent death of his estranged father, unexpectedly meet in a local bakery in Montreal's Mile End district. What starts as an innocent friendship becomes more serious as the two wayward strangers find comfort in one another. As Felix opens Meira's eyes to the world outside of her tight-knit Orthodox community, her desire for change becomes harder for her to ignore, ultimately forcing her to choose: remain in the life that she knows or give it all up to be with Félix.

Alex of Venice - Co-Written by Jessica Goldberg and Katie Nehra

In “Alex of Venice,” workaholic environmental attorney Alex Vedder (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is forced to reinvent herself after her husband (Chris Messina) suddenly leaves the family. Dealing with an aging father (Don Johnson) who still aspires to succeed as an actor, an eccentric sister (Katie Nehra), and an extremely shy son (Skylar Gaertner), Alex is bombarded with everything from the mundane to hilariously catastrophic events without a shoulder to lean on. Realizing she will thrive with or without her husband, Alex discovers her hidden vulnerability as well as her inner strength as she fights to keep her family intact in the midst of the most demanding and important case of her career.

Cas & Dylan - Written by Jessie Gabe

When 61-year-old self-proclaimed loner and terminally ill Dr. Cas Pepper (Richard Dreyfuss) reluctantly agrees to give 22-year-old social misfit Dyland Morgan (Tatiana Maslany) a very short lift home, the last thing he anticipates is that he will strike her angry boyfriend with his car, find himself on the lam, and ultimately drive across the country with an aspiring young writer determined to help him overcome his own bizarre case of suicide-note writer's block. But as fate would have it, that is exactly what happens. Suddenly Cas's solo one-way trip out West isn't so solo. With Dylan at his side, the two take off on an adventure that will open their eyes to some of life's lessons -- both big and small.

Antarctic Edge: 70° South (doc) - Directed by Dena Seidel

Dena Seidel’s documentary not only offers rare, beautifully shot footage of West Antarctic Pennisula's rapidly changing environment, studying the connections that reveal the concrete impact of climate change; it is also a one-of-a-kind collaboration between the Rutgers University Film Bureau and the Rutgers Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences and contains interviews and insights from some of the world’s leading ocean researchers. It is a fascinating look at their life’s work trying to understand how to maintain our planet.

The Road Within - Written and Directed by Gren Wells

Vincent (Robert Sheehan), a young man with Tourette's syndrome, faces drastic changes after his mother dies. Because his politician father is too ashamed of the disorder to have Vincent accompany him on the campaign, Vincent is shuttled off to an unconventional clinic. There he finds unexpected community with an obsessive-compulsive roommate and an anorexic young woman, and romance eventually -- and uneasily -- follows.

One of Variety's "10 Directors to Watch," screenwriter Gren Wells makes her directorial debut with this ambitious yet light-hearted coming-of-age tale about the potent medicine we all carry within ourselves. The film is packed with a talented ensemble, from emerging talents Zoë Kravitz, Dev Patel, and Sheehan to beloved veterans Kyra Sedgwick and Robert Patrick.

April 23

Sweet Lorraine

The double life of a Methodist minister's wife (played by Tatum O'Neal) catches up to her, as her husband campaigns for mayor in a small New Jersey town.

April 24

Just Before I Go - Directed by Courtney Cox

Ted Morgan (Seann William Scott) has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.

The Age of Adaline

After miraculously remaining 29-years-old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents (Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker) threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.

Adult Beginners - Co-Written by Liz Flahive (Simultaneously releasing to VOD)

A young, hipster entrepreneur (Nick Kroll) crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life in disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale), and three-year-old nephew in the suburbs – only to become their manny. Faced with real responsibility, he may finally have to grow up – but not without some bad behavior first.

Eden - Directed and Co-Written by Mia Hansen-Løve

The film follows the life of a French DJ who's credited with inventing "French house" or the "French touch," a type of French electronic music that became popular in the 1990s. Greta Gerwig costars. (IMDB)

24 Days - Co-Written by Emilie Frèche

January 20, 2006: After dinner with his family, Ilan Halimi (Syrus Shahidi) gets a call from a beautiful girl who had approached him at work and makes plans to meet her for coffee. Ilan didn't suspect a thing. He was 23 and had his whole life ahead of him. The next time Ilan's family heard from him was through a cryptic online message from kidnappers demanding a ransom in exchange for their son's life. (IMDB)

Helicopter Mom - Directed by Salomé Breziner

An overbearing mom (Nia Vardalos) decides that college would be more affordable if her son were to win an LGBT scholarship, so she outs him to his entire high school. However, he might not be gay. (Rotten Tomatoes)

April 29

Iris (doc) (Opening in New York City)

"Iris" pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris' dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. "Iris" portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art, and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression.

April 30

Marie’s Story

At the turn of the 19th century, a humble artisan and his wife have a daughter, Marie (Ariana Rivoire), who is born deaf and blind and unable to communicate with the world around her. Desperate to find a connection to their daughter and avoid sending her to an asylum, the Heurtins send fourteen-year-old Marie to the Larnay Institute in central France, where an order of Catholic nuns manage a school for deaf girls. There, the idealistic Sister Marguerite (Isabelle Carré) sees in Marie a unique potential, and despite her Mother Superior's (Brigitte Catillon) skepticism, vows to bring the wild young thing out of the darkness into which she was born. Based on true events, “Marie's Story” recounts the courageous journey of a young nun and the lives she would change forever, confronting failures and discouragement with joyous faith and love. (Film Movement)

"The Hand That Feeds" Serves Up Fair-Wage Fight to Audiences and Activists

Anthony Kaufman — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 21:30:06 GMT

On April 15, low-wage workers, unions, community groups and allies will stage a coordinated "Day of Action" calling for a $15/hr minimum wage and the right to unionize. When filmmakers Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears began making their documentary "The Hand That Feeds," which is opening on April 3 in New York and April 10 in L.A. on the eve of the protest, they never realized they'd be such a galvanizing force in the fair-wage movement.

But after rousing screenings at Full Frame, DOC NYC, AFI Docs and a bilingual subtitled Chicago screening I hosted at the Music Box Theatre, where roughly 200 activists showed up, this little documentary, about undocumented Latino workers striving for better working conditions in New York City, has taken on a life of its own as an organizing tool. The group Fight For $15 is now using the documentary to help mobilize workers and community partners to get the word out about the April event.

And even before the film was finished, the trailer inspired three separate groups of workers to organize; one of these won a settlement for better wages and hours.

Dozens of social action documentaries are being made and released these days, but I suspect that one reason "The Hand That Feeds" has become such an integral part of the movement is that it's also fun to watch and engaging storytelling. For much the same reason, "Capitalism: A Love Story" became a must-see for participants of Occupy Wall Street (whereas so many other films made in its wake failed to catch on.)

"The Hand That Feeds" is also planning grassroots community screenings throughout the year all over the country to connect the film to local campaigns for economic justice and immigrants' rights. For more information, viewers can visit TheHandThatFeedsFilm.com or check out their side project ChangingTheFoodChain.org.

"The Island President" Sentenced to 13 Years; Can U.S. Film Activists Make a Difference?

Anthony Kaufman — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:46:20 GMT

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, the central figure in the highly acclaimed documentary "The Island President," was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday after being convicted of a terrorism charge, according to AFP.

Despite outcry among documentary filmmakers, and political and climate-change activists, Nasheed was convicted and then taken to Dhoonidhoo prison, near the capital island Male.

According to the AFP, Nasheed was defiant. "I appeal to all of you today to stay courageous and strong, to confront the dictatorial power of this regime," his office quoted him as saying.

Local media reported that after the ruling police clashed with pro-Nasheed protesters across Male. International supporters have taken to Twitter to show their support for Nasheed and their anger towards the ruling party.

Last week, several documentary filmmakers and activists signed an open letter calling for Nasheed's release. Now, it seems, Nasheed supporters will have to rely on pressure from India and other nations closer to the region.

Documentary Filmmakers and Activists Call for Release of "Island President" Nasheed

Anthony Kaufman — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 02:48:55 GMT

The campaign to free Mohamed Nasheed--the climate change activist, former president of the Maldives, and central figure in Jon Shenk's acclaimed documentary "The Island President"--is heating up. Concerned that Nasheed will soon be convicted and sentenced for trumped up charges of terrorism by his political rivals, several prominent documentary filmmakers and activists, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Oscar-winning filmmaker Louie Psihoyos ("The Cove"), and actor Fisher Stevens, are fighting to get the word out about his fate.

Earlier today, Impact Partners' head and "The Island President" executive producer Dan Cogan spoke to HuffPo Live, calling the proceedings against Nasheed "a kangaroo court set up to convict him, and it should be very concerning for anyone who believes in the rule of law and democratic government."

The group has signed an Open Letter in support of former President Nasheed, which is included below, along with its signatories.

Indiewire readers are encouraged to give their support by signing in the Comments section of this post. Readers can also sign a petition on Change.org, which is currently running a thousand signatories short of its 5,000 number goal.

Open Letter in Support of President Nasheed

The undersigned call on the international community, including the U.S., the UK, the EU, India and the Commonwealth, to use all resources at its disposal to pressure the government of the Maldives to free President Mohamed Nasheed and desist in all human rights abuses against him immediately.

Pro-Democracy and Climate hero Mohamed Nasheed, the first-ever democratically elected President of the Maldives, has been arrested and detained in jail without legal representation by the authoritarian regime of Yameen Gayoom. Yameen is the half brother of Maumoon Gayoom, a dictator who ruled the Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years. This arrest is part of a broad sweep to wipe out all political opposition in the country. If sentenced, President Nasheed faces 10-15 years in prison. We cannot allow it to happen.

President Nasheed was forced from office in 2012 in a coup d’etat, yet has remained a vital voice in the pro-democracy and climate justice movements. On February 22 this year, he was violently arrested and jailed in his home country on politically motivated charges. President Nasheed’s arrest comes in the wake of a collapse of Yameen’s coalition government, and amidst calls for by Yameen’s resignation by the country’s two largest opposition political parties and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Maldivian citizens.

President Nasheed was injured while he was physically dragged into the courtroom by police on February 23. He has been repeatedly denied both legal representation and medical attention.

The U.S., the United Nations, the European Union, India, Canada and the Commonwealth have all denounced the arrest and treatment of President Nasheed. But we need to keep the pressure up until he is freed from prison.

Formerly an Amnesty International “Prisoner of Conscience” who was jailed for more than six years for writing articles critical of the government as a journalist, President Nasheed defeated Maumoon Gayoom in the Maldives’ first-ever free and fair election in 2008. Known worldwide as the “Mandela of the Maldives,” Nasheed also became an international hero of the climate change movement for setting a goal of making his nation carbon neutral by 2020, and by dramatically improving the climate talks at the 2009 UN Copenhagen Conference. He received the prestigious James Lawson Award for Non-Violent Conflict Resolution, as well as the Sylvia Earl Blue Mission Award for climate advocacy. Nasheed is the subject of the acclaimed documentary “The Island President.” In 2009, he was named a TIME “hero of the environment” and in 2012, was included in NEWSWEEK’s “World’s 10 Best Leaders.

The United Nations, European Union and the Commonwealth have all expressed concern over the lack of independence of the Maldivian judiciary. It is this very judiciary, composed of hand picked justices of the Gayoom dynasty, that will decide whether Nasheed will be sentenced on these politically motivated charges. President Nasheed’s arrest has led to thousands of supporters taking to the streets in protest.

We firmly believe that international pressure on the regime can help to end the illegal and politically motivated trial against President Nasheed.

Sincerely,

1. Bill McKibben, Author, Environmentalist and Co-Founder of 350.org

2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

3. Jose Ramos-Horta, Former President of Timor-Leste and Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

4. Kierán Suckling, Executive Director, Center for Biological Diversity

5. Michael Gerrard, Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School

6. Erich Pica, President, Friends of the Earth

7. Wm. Carroll Muffett, President, Center for International Environmental Law

8. Lindsey Allen, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network

9. Eban Goodstein, Director, Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College

10. Dan Becker, Director, Safe Climate Campaign

11. Kathleen Rogers, President, Earth Day Network

12. David Hunter, Professor of Law, Director, International Law Program, American University, Washington College of Law

13. Tom Athanasiou, Executive Director, EcoEquity, USA

14. Thomas G. Kelly, Executive Director, KyotoUSA, Berkeley, CA

15. Bill Snape, General Counsel, Endangered Species Coalition

16. Ted Glick, National Campaign Coordinator, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

17. Jean Oelwang, CEO Virgin Unite

18. Debbie Kinder, Founder and CEO of the Blue Ocean Film Festival

19. Jon Shenk, Director of “The Island President”

20. Peter Goldwyn, Samuel Goldwyn Films

21. Louie Psihoyos, Executive Director, Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS). Director, “The Cove” & “Racing Extinction”

22. Fisher Stevens, Actor, Producer & Writer

23. Robert Stone, Oscar®-nominated documentary filmmaker

24. Dan Cogan, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Impact Partners, Co-Executive Producer of “The Island President”

25. Geralyn Dreyfous, Co-Founder, Impact Partners

26. Seymour Wishman, President of First Run Features

27. Marc Mauceri, Vice President of First Run Features

28. Jenny Raskin, Impact Partners

29. Richard Berge, Producer of “The Island President”

30. Bonni Cohen, Producer of “The Island President”

31. Terry Tempest Williams, Writer

Documentary Community Rallies Around Arrested "Island President"

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 18:28:59 GMT

Plenty of general news outlets have reported on the recent arrest of former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, the star of his own documentary "The Island President." But the staid reports of Nasheed's arrest, victimization and unjust treatment by the ruling powers of that island nation don't fully capture the harrowing ordeal of who Nasheed is (a hero for climate change activists), nor what he has and continues to endure. (One of the film's most affecting moments is hearing how Nasheed previously survived imprisonment and torture, but has remained tirelessly committed to his causes.)

For those members of the film community who got to know Nasheed through the film, and its distribution, his brutal arrest has gone down hard. Twitter and Facebook calls for his freedom first went out during the din of the Academy Awards show on Sunday; emails are beginning to circulate, petitions are being set up (sign this petition to Free Nasheed) and a Twitter hashtag (#FreeNasheedNow) has been hastened. Personally, I interviewed the man in 2011 for The Wall Street Journal and found him as eloquent and charismatic as he appears in the documentary.

Officials from the U.S., United Nations, India and Canada have condemned the arrest. But as "The Island President" showed so effectively and amusingly, it's hard to get noticed when you're a small and slowly disappearing island nation of some 350,000 people. But what made Nasheed such a great film character and a great individual is that he managed to make waves that went beyond his country's borders.

Just another night at the Oscars: Combating Racism, Sexism, Government Surveillance and Xenophobia

Anthony Kaufman — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 21:14:08 GMT

Jokes about the industry's prejudice against African Americans. Check.
Jokes about the industry's prejudice against immigrants. Check.
Clarion calls for equal pay for women. Check.
Call-outs against government surveillance programs. Check.

And lest we forget that "The Lego Movie" hit musical-number "Everything is awesome" is actually about the dangers of conformity and compliance--though you wouldn't know it from the dancing workmen and pixie-singers belting out the number.

And that's the funny thing about the Academy Awards. As a die-hard leftist, they should make me happy. The Oscars have a history of serving as a platform for progressive actors standing on the stage and making pleas for such important causes as civil rights or environmental protection. When Patricia Arquette ended her speech with a thrilling and bold call for equal rights for women, I was thrilled and excited. But then a couple car and cellphone commercials later, and it quickly dawned on me how insignificant and superficial all that righteous progressive idealism was.

Yes, a few more people will watch "CitizenFour" as a result of its Oscar win. And Patricia Arquette will trend on Twitter for another 24 hours. And Mexican-born filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu's career is set. But the liberal wave that swept our Twitter accounts and Facebook updates last night is already lost in a surge of anti-Obama-fueled pro-"American Sniper" outrage that is sure to persist long after Oscar night and into the next Presidential Election.

It's easy to get swept into something as culturally sweeping as the Academy Awards, which I watched for the first time last night in a few years, but as has already been reportedly extensively, viewership dropped catastrophically. Like NPR and Rachel Maddow, it's naval-gazing for the liberal left, and increasingly exists in its own bubble of glamour and self-congratulatory hooey. Honestly, I wish it wasn't the case.

My Top 10 Films (and then some) from Sundance 2015

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 17:24:19 GMT

I should say that this isn't a comprehensive list--how does one possibly see more than 100 movies in five days, many of them playing at the same time. For that very reason, I missed some of the most talked-about and lauded movies ("Tangerine," "Diary of a Teenage Girl," I will catch up to you later), but I packed in a lot, and saw some strong independent films.

Nothing blew me away, but images, characters and feelings from the films continue to linger with me days after the fest (the socially awkward depressive antics of Jason Segal's David Foster Wallace in "The End of the Tour"; a pecking crow sitting on a demented ladies' lap in "The Witch"; the bittersweet coming-of-age of the long-captive Anjulo brothers in "The Wolfpack"; Gore Vidal's shit-eating smirk in "Best of Enemies"; I could go on and on.) The fact that these movies endure in my mind is testament to their staying power.

Below, a list of my top ten films from Sundance 2015 (in rough order of preference), with additional thoughts and links, when applicable, followed by the good, the bland, and the ugly.

Top 10
"The End of the Tour" - review
"Z for Zachariah" - Craig Zobel's three-hander is a slow-burn post-apocalyptic psychological drama with terrific performances.
"Experimenter" - review
"Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" - review
"Results" - review
"Dreamcatcher" - Astonishing in its intimacy and wrenching in its emotional rawness, this documentary about 'interrupting' Chicago prostitutes captures moments of such startling pain and anguish that it’s a miracle that a camera-person was sitting close-by to record it.
"Digging For Fire" - Joe Swanberg's funny, idiosyncratic, emotionally honest and cleverly scripted portrait of young marriage
"Best of Enemies" - The film marshals a treasure trove of archival footage to paint a portrait of America’s ideological divide. But the film’s media analysis isn’t nearly as fun as William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal’s stinging linguistic jabs.
"The Wolfpack" - Samira Makmahlbaf's 'The Apple' meets 'Reservoir Dogs,' this sensitive, sad and too-weird-to-believe doc profiles a group of film-savvy Peruvian-American teens who finally emerge from their New York apartment after years of being held captive by their father.
"The Witch" - An extraordinarily researched, visually stunning and creepy cinematic exercise about a witch tormenting an early American pioneer family.

Good
"The Russian Woodpecker" - A fascinating, and utterly subjective, unreliable trip down the rabbit hole of Cold War conspiracy theories
"The Nightmare" - review
"Western" - Rather address complicated border politics with talking heads or text on screen, the filmmakers rely on evocative images—a dying bull is dragged outside of a bullfight arena—to communicate the region's impending threats, whether Mexican drug gangs or federal interference.
"Mississippi Grind" - review
"Welcome to Leith" - When a scary white supremacist plans to take over a small-town in North Dakota, paranoia and tensions grip the locals. The filmmakers play some interesting head-games with the sympathy and suspicion of the documentary's characters.
"Sembene!" - Portrait of the famed African filmmaker is heightened by deep political probing.
"What Happened, Miss Simone?" - Liz Garbus's Nina Simone bio-doc is an elegant and fluidly pieced-together portrait of the legendary singer’s highs and lows, political activism and unfortunate downfall.
"The Royal Road" - Jenni Olson’s admirable cinematic personal photo-essay examines California’s history of imperialism, Hitchcock’s "Vertigo," and her own sex life.
"Sam Klemke's Time Machine" - Comprised of video clips from nearly every year of Sam Klemke’s life, the story ends up chronicling Klemke’s weight-gain, failed jobs, and perennially fucked-up existence.

Bland, But Effective
"The Hunting Ground" - Kirby Dick hits viewers over the head with the facts: It sucks to be a woman in college, where there's a 16-20% chance that you will be sexually assaulted and university officials would rather protect their image than give a damn.
"Brooklyn" - review

Worst
"Knock Knock" - review

Can Tearjerking Doc "The Hunting Ground" Change Colleges' Sexual Assault Policies?

Anthony Kaufman — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:07:08 GMT

At its Sundance premiere, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering's "The Hunting Ground" was warmly received by its activist audience, who after the screening, pledged to help find ways to tackle the film's main target: the epidemic of rape and sexual assaults that take place on college campuses around the country. The film repeats the statistic that 4-5 out of every female college student will be sexually assaulted. Much like "The Invisible War"--Dick and Ziering's film about rape in the military, which helped institute changes in U.S. military policy--"The Hunting Ground" relies on emotional first-person testimony from dozens of women--the sheer number and weight of confessions becomes impossible to ignore, who speak not only about the horribleness of the assaults, but also the way in which college officials repeatedly try to suppress their reporting.

But unlike "The Invisible War," "The Hunting Ground" indicts multiple groups who are culpable: universities, fraternities, college sports teams, and local law enforcement. When TWC-RADiUS releases the film this March, an extraordinary amount of media fuss is likely to follow. One of the areas that news outlets are already focusing on, and which the film could impact, is an abandoned legal case against star FSU football player Jameis Winston. However, the filmmakers and their advocates will have a much tougher battle ahead this time, facing powerful universities, where money and prestige are at stake.

The Top 12 Documentaries of 2014

Anthony Kaufman — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 22:37:16 GMT

I haven't seen all of the documentaries that would likely qualify for a list of the best nonfiction films of 2014 (see my omissions below, please forgive me), so consider this not a definitive list of the top docs of 2014, but more accurately, "a tentative and working list of the top documentaries of the year"--it's just that this latter title would make for a muddier headline.

I don't feel like listing these numerically, either, so consider this list to be in some vague order not exactly of preference, but what felt right at the time of this writing. I saw Concerning Violence first in January of 2014, so it kind of haunts all the rest.
My write-ups, as indicated, are taken from previous writings of mine from a variety of publications.

Concerning Violence

Subtitled “Nine Scenes from the Anti-Imperialistic Self-Defense,” Concerning Violence is composed entirely of archival footage from the 1960s and ‘70s, of colonizing military forces and wounded African people, overlaid with the fighting words of Franz Fanon, both as text on screen and as voiceover by singer Lauryn Hill, who effectively channels the author’s intellectual indignation. The film’s argument is provocative, but fairly simple: Violence is an acceptable and inevitable rejoinder to colonization, which has had a long and violently oppressive history in Africa. Director Goran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape) echoes the occasional bluntness of Fanon’s language (“this is when the niggers beat each other up”) with the inclusion of equally harrowing clips. Recalling such revolutionary montage-makers as Sergei Eisenstein, Fernando Solanas and Santiago Alvarez, Concerning Violence operates like a clarion call from the past that resonates in the present. (SundanceNow)

Tales of the Grim Sleeper

Nick Broomfield is back with this penetrating investigation into the case of Lonnie Franklin Jr., who was arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 2010 as the suspected murderer of a string of young black women near his home over a 20-plus-year period. What might at first appear similar to so many docs about wrongfully convicted black men becomes a broader and damning indictment of a culture that has tolerated the deaths of so many women for so long without proper accountability. Broomfield miraculously withholds judgment from the pornographers, drug addicts, and prostitutes that populate his film, harboring his biggest disdain for an American system that has allowed them to live and die so ignominiously in L.A. (Indiewire)

Citizenfour

The political thriller of the year! Both a bracing expose of the U.S. government's massive unchecked surveillance program and a masterpiece of verite filmmaking, particularly in its compelling mid-section, in which we experience Snowden going from arrogant whistleblower to deeply paranoid political refugee, Poitras’ film is tense and precise—and I can’t get those images out of my mind of Glenn Greenwald in Brazil surrounded by a pack of his pet dogs.

The Missing Picture

Skulls. Piles and rows of human skulls. It’s perhaps the most iconic image associated with the Khmer Rough’s killing of some two million Cambodians in the 1970s. But these skeletal remains are vague and abstract reflections of what actually transpired. In his latest movie, Cambodian filmmaker and labor-camp survivor Rithy Panh provides a unique kind of visual record of the atrocities—to provide, in a sense, the pictures missing from history. Using small handcrafted clay figurines, Panh reenacts excruciating stories of humiliation, torture and murder, including the deaths of his own mother and father. More personal than his previous exposé, S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, but never sentimental, The Missing Picture is a beautifully made and deeply haunting portrait of a man struggling to come to terms with his—and his country’s—devastating past. (Utne Reader)

The Overnighters

While Jesse Moss's complex, profoundly American documentary is ostensibly a portrait of a caring Lutheran pastor named Jay Reinke, who is more complicated and self-interested than he at first seems, it’s also about the throngs of downtrodden men he seeks to help—men who have traveled from all over the country to an oil-rich North Dakota town in search of work. One young man, who has left his wife and infant child behind, is all too happy to have a job, even if the chemicals involved do some undefined damage to his skin. The Overnighters is not about just one thing—it encompasses a wide range of problems, involving the economy, race, class, sexuality and religion. For in many ways—and this is what makes The Overnighters important—these interrelated issues are necessary to consider where we are as a people today in the face of recession and oppression. (SundanceNow)

The Kill Team

America’s military missteps in Afghanistan have already been well documented, but The Kill Team is a chilling and essential new case study. With extraordinary access and emotional power, director Dan Krauss chronicles the story of the famous Stryker Brigade, who were charged and convicted of killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan. The film finds its focus in private Adam Winfield, a whistleblower who participated in the murders and must defend himself in a military court. Is he scapegoat? Or killer? Or some combination of the two? This fascinating and infuriating film offers no easy answers, revealing how soldiers tried to cover up their crimes and how morality quickly becomes muddied in a war zone. As one soldier ominously suggests, “This goes on more than just us—we’re just the ones that got caught.” (Utne Reader)

Big Men

There’s a reason they call it “Big Oil.” In this epic investigation into the fickle and mercenary ways of capitalism, director Rachel Boynton (Our Brand is Crisis) crisscrosses back and forth between Texan energy moguls, New York venture capitalists, Guinean politicians and Nigerian militants to chronicle the competitive, cutthroat world of the oil business. Big Men offers a multifaceted portrait of these larger-than-life figures--all of who end up surprisingly more sympathetic and “smaller” than they first appear. Indeed, the documentary is not only an essential and insightful look at the way globalization works, but a haunting picture of the people of all sizes who are cut down in its wake. (Utne Reader)

The Great Invisible

A great double-bill with Big Men, Margaret Brown’s equally sprawling examination of the fallout from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill never leaves the U.S., but it manages to cut across a wide spectrum of perpetrators and victims, from cigar-smoking Houston oil executives to the traumatized oil-rig workers, local fishermen, and regular Gulf Coast folks whose lives have been torn apart by the disaster. Beautifully photographed and preferring to hammer its message home through imagery over narration, the film is a powerful piece of advocacy filmmaking disguised as an art film.

Actress

Real-life thespian Brandy Burre (of Seasons 3 and 4 of “The Wire”) navigates that familiar conflict between domesticity and career aspirations in Robert Greene’s sneaky docu-hybrid. The film opens with a highly composed shot, recalling Todd Haynes via Douglas Sirk, of Burre, clothed in a bright red dress, cleaning dishes at her sink. Even when Actress switches to a more conventional approach, capturing Burre interacting with her kids or talking directly to the camera, it feels slightly phony. Whether that’s because it is actually staged in some way or because Burre just naturally “performs” in real life, it’s never exactly clear. Either way, the film ends on another ambiguous note, rooted in questions of perception and the roles that people play in real life. (SundanceNow)

Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart

First, take note of the “trials” in the title of this superb documentary. Pamela Smart, a schoolteacher charged with hiring a lover to kill her husband in 1990, not only faced legal proceedings, but a more insidious and far-ranging level of persecution by our exploitative culture. Well before O.J., Smart’s case became a media sensation, filled with sex and scandal. But as skillfully re-framed by filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar, who combines TV news reports and fictional movie-of-the-week recreations of the events, the Smart case illustrates the unjust ways in which testimony and memory can be manipulated in the public sphere. (Utne Reader)

E-Team and Return to Homs

One of the most important stories of 2014, the civil war in Syria has spawned two of the year’s most powerful documentaries. Syrian filmmaker Talal Derki's shot-on-the-fly Return to Homs may begin with footage of indiscriminate violence, bled-out dead children and utter chaos, but it eventually takes greater shape, becoming an affecting and devastating portrait of one man: charismatic soccer-player-turned-revolutionary Abdul Basset, who ceaselessly and sometimes recklessly strives to liberate his people. The film's iconic image — which shows Basset sitting exhausted in a hallway, with one hand on his head and the other holding his weapon — provides the film with one of its most piercing moments, encapsulating the sense of anguish, futility and frustration that plagues the Syrian resistance.

Looking at the conflict more from the outside, looking in, Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman's E-Team examines two English-speaking Human Rights Watch investigators—who are married—and their work in several war-torn regions. But the film's most powerful moments take place in Syria. One such sequence shows an anguished, angry Syrian man, standing atop a pile of rubble in his recently bombed out village, telling the investigators that his brother, sister and stepmother were just killed in the attack. His face, filled with a triple dose of anger, frustration, and grief, will forever stay with me. (Indiewire)

Runners-up: Life Itself, The Green Prince, The Unknown Known

Mea culpa: Should have seen National Gallery, The Last of the Unjust, Jodorowsky's Dune, The Internet’s Own Boy, Virunga, Last Days in Vietnam, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, Manakamana—all of which, I’ve heard, are excellent.

Now! Filmmakers Respond to Ferguson With Short Docs

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 18:11:19 GMT

Filmmaker Travis Wilkerson ("An Injury to One") is joining forces with a number of other independent filmmakers to launch Now! A Journal of Urgent Praxis, a website made up of movies and writings meant to engage with current political and cultural events. The first edition of Now! includes several videos in response to the murder of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, which has sparked protest around the country.

The videos include a moment of silent from Wilkerson, as well as Kelly Gallagher's animation collage about institutionalized racism, "Pen Up The Pigs," and a video montage by Alex Johnston called "Now! Again!", among others.

Now's Editorial Board includes filmmakers Thom Andersen, Nicole Brenez, Toshi Fujiwara, Kelly Gallagher, John Gianvito, Alex Johnston, Minda Martin, Jurij Meden, Vanessa Renwick, Can Tuzcu, Billy Woodberry.

Here is an excerpt from the Now! Journal's "Declaration":

"Residing at a crossroads between film journal and radical newsreel, Now! A Journal of Urgent Praxis will foreground films and writings made in rapid yet eloquent engagement with the here and now of political and cultural life. Now! aims to stimulate an alternate form of practice across critical writing and experimental cinema, operating in a different time signature than the academic quarterly, museum exhibition, or film festival. Now! can respond to crisis. Now! can offer the radical reply.

Despite changes in technology that make it easier than ever, few journals make films available as a central component of their content. Fewer still foreground new films, emphasizing the archive instead. And none focus on films that place an equal weight between formal innovation and political urgency. Now! will confront this absence directly."

An Open Letter to Filmmakers, Artists and Creatives: Take Part 2016

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:03:39 GMT

Filmmakers, artists and creative-types of all sorts, please take the 2014 mid-term elections as a wake-up call. This blog is called ReelPolitik, so I feel it's in my purview to state that it's both my responsibility and yours to start thinking about 2016. And not just thinking, but planning, joining and mobilizing friends, family and co-workers to join you in a fight for candidates that support the issues that directly effect your livelihoods: arts funding, public education and an open and free Internet. Last I checked, these are policies that few Republican and right-wing candidates--who just marched into power in a big way--care about.

I don't intend to rail against other problematic policies in the Republican platform--such as increased dependence on coal and fossil fuels, marriage being defined as between one man and one woman, or privatizing education--which indirectly effects your lives, too. Let's just focus on the fact that the party that just took over the country's legislative branch, and many of the governorships (oh Wisconsin! oh Maine! oh Florida!), doesn't support what you do. They seem to see the media as a means strictly for propaganda, whether in their own (Fox News, etc) or what they rally against (Hollywood). In a Republican-ruled USA, there is little room for ambiguity or nuance or artfulness, both in the level of discourse and the way the world is perceived.

And if you think politics doesn't matter to you, let me remind you that the current global crises, from economic uncertainty to instability in the Middle East, all stem from policies that began in Washington, D.C., largely perpetuated by eight long years of the George W. Bush administrations.

For most readers of ReelPolitik, I'm preaching to the converted. For all of you progressive documentary and narrative filmmakers out there, this year's overwhelming political defeat must feel a bit demoralizing, not unlike Bush's reelection year. In our little world, we watch great progressive-minded films and documentaries, which seem like gamechangers to us, and yet they matter little to the culture, at large.

All this suggests to me that we have to move beyond simply making great films; we also have to fight for better policies through more direct political action.

Has Independent Film Jumped the Shark?

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 19:13:38 GMT

In the Fall issue of Filmmaker Magazine, my latest Industry Beat column (print only) asks the question, "Has the Cinematic Water Cooler Run Dry?"--in other words, do indie films have cultural cache anymore? Can they get people talking on a large scale in the same way films like "sex, lies and videotape" and "The Blair Witch Project" once could?

Sure, these days, there remains the singular annual breakout: "Boyhood" (2014), "Fruitvale Station" (2013), "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012), but collectively, how many indie films does it take to reach the level of mainstream awareness as one episode of "Girls" or "True Detective"?

From the article: "Indie filmmakers have either lost touch with society, or the more fragmented and diverse entertainment industry has left them behind."

As Ted Hope writes in his new book, "Hope for Film" (co-authored with me), about his final years making films, “I was still getting good movies made, although there was no denying they were being seen less, having less impact, and were less satisfying, as a result.”

James Schamus—formerly co-partners with Hope in Good Machine and then co-president of Focus Features, before he, too, left the business to pursue his screenwriting and academic careers—told me in a 2005 Variety article, “We often find the parochial American indie just doesn’t speak to the rest of the world,” he said. “And quite frankly, [it] doesn’t have much commercial context here in the States either.

And it’s not simply the ubiquity of digital media content that may have eroded the cultural relevancy of strong and innovative American-indie dramas, but the swiftness with which it proliferates. As Rene Bastian, producer of previous decade crossovers "L.I.E." (2001) and "Transamerica" (2005), told me: “Films take a long time to make, then it takes time to build awareness for them, then it takes two hours of the audiences’ time to enjoy them, and then more time to digest and possibly discuss them,” he said. “It is now harder than ever before for a producer to predict what audiences will want to watch two years from now."

Read more in the latest issue of Filmmaker.

Subpoenas, Smear Campaigns, Encryption, Expatriation: The Risks of Investigative Doc-making

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:05:32 GMT

In my latest Reality Checks column for Indiewire, I felt the pleasure and paranoia of gaining an understanding of the risks involved in investigating corporate and/or government wrongdoing and the extraordinary lengths that documentary filmmakers may go to protect themselves.

As "CITIZENFOUR" producer and editor Mathilde Bonnefoy told me, she always wore headphones while editing, just in case someone was listening. "And also we'd carry cell phones and computers out of the room for viewing sensitive scenes or for complete run-throughs of the cut," she added.

The article isn't just about the technological tools that filmmakers can employ to keep their footage private, but also their legal rights and limits--which appear to be fairly murky. I guess that's why we have judicial proceedings to parse them out. But I wouldn't be surprised if, in the not-so-distant future, we will have an incident in which a documentary filmmaker isn't just subpoenaed or sued by an irate and powerful subject, but arrested on contempt charges and put in jail.

CITIZENFOUR's Laura Poitras says she would refuse to testify in any grand jury proceedings, citing journalistic privilege. But I wonder how far shield laws and First Amendment Rights will extend to reporters and documentarians when "National Security" issues are at stake. Either way, I have gained a new found appreciation for intrepid documentary investigators who risk their own freedom to help bring injustice to light.

Days of Being Wild: Early Wong Kar-wai and the Hong Kong Protests

Anthony Kaufman — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 20:27:04 GMT

Just when the news from Occupy Central, the student-led protest movement in Hong Kong, was beginning to fade from the headlines, the conflict between pro-democracy demonstrators and police is heating up again, according to news reports. While it may be facile to compare the political unrest to 25-year-old art-films, the early films of Wong Kar-wai are rooted, arguably, in the kind of disaffection, anomie and frustration that has sparked the current unrest in China's "administrative region." At least, this is the argument I make in this Keyframe story: "Days of Being Wild."

Here is an excerpt:

"To return to Wong’s first films, 'As Tears Go By' (1988) and 'Days of Being Wild' (1990), today is to see portraits of paralyzed twentysomethings, existing in a limbo state of inertia and impermanence—which seems antithetical to the spirit of protest and rebellion of Hong Kong’s current historical moment. And while Tiananmen Square occurred while Wong was making and releasing his first and second features, the movies act more as ominous harbingers of what followed the ’89 Democracy Movement—protestors were killed and arrested, civil liberties were quashed and pessimism sunk in."

"I go by Ed": "CITIZENFOUR" to Humanize Edward Snowden?

Anthony Kaufman — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:53:00 GMT

In the new teaser trailer just released for Laura Poitras' long-awaited look at whistleblower Edward Snowden, the clip offers a very, very brief glimpse of the new documentary. One of the main things that stands out -- also reflected in the film's main image on promotional materials -- is the way in which Snowden appears like a regular old bloke. "I go by Ed," he says, speaking to two hungry journalists looking for answers. With Snowden called everything from a traitor to a hero to a terrorist, I suspect "CITIZENFOUR" -- so named for Snowden's alias during his early correspondences with Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald -- will transform Snowden from shape-shifting phantom to human being.

If you consider Poitras' previously acclaimed films, "My Country, My Country" and "The Oath," she is just as much adept at creating sympathetic character portraits as political analyses of complex situations. In fact, that is what ultimately makes Poitras' work stand apart from the dozens of docs about Iraq or terrorism. Expect "CITIZENFOUR" to be as much about Snowden, the man, as the surveillance State apparatus.

Here's an official synopsis: "In June 2013, she and Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely sui generis in the history of cinema: a 100% real-life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes."

"Burma VJ" Director Anders Østergaard's new film "1989" Premieres Simultaneously across Europe

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:36:17 GMT

Danish filmmaker Anders Østergaard, director of the Oscar-nominated doc "Burma VJ," will world premiere his latest film "1989," at the opening night of CPH: DOX, and simultaneously throughout the country and in 15 different theatres all over Europe. Vimeo has the trailer here.

Called a political drama in a festival press release, “1989” is a chronicle of the fall of the Iron Curtain, beginning with the decision of Hungarian Prime Minster Miklós Németh's decision to abandon Hungary’s extensive and costly border and reopen the gates to the West permanently.

The documentary combines a mix of interviews, archival material and reconstructed scenes and dialogues that are lip-synched with the actual archived footage from the real-life political protagonists.

Rachel Boynton's "Our Brand is Crisis": Reloaded with Clooney and Bullock

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:20:28 GMT

How cool is it that Rachel Boynton's 2005 documentary "Our Brand is Crisis" is being re-made as a new film directed by David Gordon Green and starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, and is now gaining traction in the tabloids. With pictures of a blonde Bullock spreading virally across the internet on the film's New Orleans set, the film is gaining the kind of publicity that Boynton's timely and important documentary wouldn't have received in a million years.

A portrait of idealistic Washington strategists working to elect the next president of Bolivia, and the unforeseen realities that intervene, "Our Brand is Crisis" was a particularly piquant look at America's penchant for "spreading democracy around the world,” as Boynton told me once. “I think it’s important that people realize what we actually mean when we’re ‘spreading democracy’ overseas."

And like Boynton's tragically underseen follow-up "Big Men," she paints a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of her spin-doctors, however Machiavellian their overarching goals might be.

The Hollywood film is likely to fuel digital sales of Boynton's nonfiction film, currently available to buy on iTunes, and I can't think of a better reason for the new adaptation to exist. Imagine all the great docs that could get a push from the public's interest in factual stories if Hollywood came calling. What's next: "Salesman," starring Liam Neeson; "The Thin Blue Line," with Matthew McConaughey and Casey Affleck? One can only hope.

October Surprise: Laura Poitras' Edward Snowden Doc "CITIZENFOUR" Hits Theaters

Anthony Kaufman — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:43:00 GMT

Laura Poitras' highly anticipated Edward Snowden doc is hitting theaters this October. The announcement came with little warning -- at least to me -- along with the news that it would premiere at the New York Film Festival. Called CITIZENFOUR, the film is described as an "utterly riveting first-person look at how Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald first met with whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong where he gave them documents showing widespread abuses of power by the National Security Administration."

Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, the "fly-on-the-wall" documentary will be sure to court controversy and could be the October surprise nonfiction event of the year--and the mid-term election cycle. The film's title comes from the handle that Snowden used when sending Poitras encrypted e-mails, saying he had information that would blow the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies.

Back to Afghanistan: "The Kill Team" Resurrects America's War Crimes

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:38:20 GMT

Just when you thought the war in Afghanistan was a distant memory, "The Kill Team" (opening in theaters on July 25) reminds us that America's military missteps in the country remain an open wound. I have been covering and heralding the movie since its 2013 Tribeca Film Festival premiere, where it won best documentary feature. I worry that Americans' taste for tales of Afghanistan and Iraq have long reached capacity, but "The Kill Team" is essential viewing--a potent reminder of how quickly morality becomes muddied in a war zone.

I first wrote about the film at SundanceNow:

"Dan Krauss’s well-crafted and compelling investigative expose The Kill Team hits all the right buttons: political injustice, moral outrage, and emotional catharsis. The film goes behind the scenes of the infamous “Kill Team,” members of a U.S. Army infantry platoon who were arrested and convicted for killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan. The focal point of the story becomes the case of private Adam Winfield, a whistleblower who may have been a willing participant in the murders. Structuring the film around Winfield’s trial in a U.S. military court, Krauss raises concerns about the fairness of a case being mounted by those who have a vested interest in how the results will reflect back on the Army. Is Winfield a scapegoat or a killer? What makes The Kill Team more than just another story of U.S. military iniquity is that the answer is probably both."

Eight Years Later, "Iraq in Fragments" Proves Just as Relevant

Anthony Kaufman — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 14:49:32 GMT

Is there a more prophetic documentary, or title, than James Longley’s visionary "Iraq in Fragments"? More than eight years since the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2006, Longley’s impressionistic and visceral glimpse of life in Iraq has never felt more resonant. Over at Keyframe Daily, I wrote a story that reflects on the award-winning Sundance documentary, given the current divisions that are tearing apart Iraq. Here is an excerpt below. Read the entire piece at the link.

"When Longley traveled to Iraq after the fall of Baghdad and began to film Iraq in Fragments in 2003, the country was in a very different place: American tanks rolled through the streets; anti-American sentiment was heating up; and the Iraqi people were struggling to redefine themselves in the absence of Sadaam Hussein and under the occupation of U.S. forces. Though each segment of 'Iraq in Fragments' is very different in its characters and tenor, the three parts express the prescient theme of self-determination—there’s a wonderment and frustration among the people about their future and who will have power in post-Sadaam Iraq."

"The film’s focus on the Iraqis may be one of the reasons the documentary still holds up so strongly today. Just as U.S. forces have come and gone, so, too, do they recede from Longley’s frames. Because, after all, it’s the Iraqis who still live there, trying to figure out how to redefine their country."