Directed by Johannes Holzhausen Produced by Johannes Rosenberger Released by Kino Lorber German with English subtitles Austria. 95 min. Not rated America and Europe approach the past differently, and each can defy common sense in ways that make sensible people want to rip their hair out. European culture can overprotect tradition like a helicopter mom, […]
Directed by Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado Screenplay by Wenders, Salgado and David Rosier Released by Sony Pictures Classics English, French, and Portuguese with English subtitles France/Brazil/Italy. 109 min. Rated PG-13 At times while watching photographer Sebastião Salgado in Wim Wenders’ latest documentary (in collaboration with the subject’s son, Juliano), you wonder how Salgado […]
Directed by Ethan Hawke Produced by Ryan Hawke, Greg Loser and Heather Joan Smith Released by Sundance Selects USA. 81 min. Not rated. Rated PG Proving that not all music teachers are of the terrifyingly mean J.K. Simmons variety, this moving, intimate documentary portrait tells of the life and passion of Manhattan concert pianist Seymour […]
Directed by Greg Vander Veer Released by First Run Features USA. 80 min. Not rated It may be true that behind every great artist, there’s a great arts administrator. When it comes to modern dance, one woman stood behind countless greats of the 20th century, and this documentary gives her due credit. Martha Hill was […]
Edited and Directed by Frederick Wiseman Produced by Wiseman and Pierre-Olivier Bardet Released by Zipporah Films France/USA/UK. 173 min. Not rated Award-winning filmmaker Frederick Wiseman establishes a very clear premise for National Gallery within the first few minutes. Reminiscent of the slide presentations used in art history classes, he opens with a silent parade of […]
Directed by Alan Hicks Written by Hicks and Davis Coombe Produced by Quincy Jones and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen Released by Radius/The Weinstein Company USA. 86 min. Rated R Keep On Keepin’ On intimately catches lightning in a bottle, for what is usually only talked about but rarely seen on film: how a dedicated mentor can […]
Directed by Catherine Gund Produced by Gund and Tanya Salvaratnam USA. 82 min. Not rated This look at the life and work of choreographer Elizabeth Streb features some genuinely jaw-dropping moments. They are compiled from a career spent pushing the limits of motion in search of a kind of human flight. Of course, the first […]
Directed by Mitra Farahani Produced by Marjaneh Moghimi Released by Music Box Films Farsi with English subtitles USA/Iran/France. 97 min. Not rated Some people make living an art form. This portrait of the artist as an old man follows Bahman Mohassess, an exiled Iranian painter and sculptor, as he attempts to live (and die) according […]
Directed by Alex Gibney Produced by Gibney and Jack Gulick Released by Kino Lorber US/UK/Nigeria/France. 119 min. Not Rated Finding Fela started out as the making-of the Tony-winning Broadway show Fela!, before journeying with the American production’s tour to superstar Fela Kuti’s home base in Lagos, Nigeria. With the discovery of rare performance outtakes and […]