Her father died on the Titanic. She bought art directly from Picasso, Giacometti, Brancusi, and de Kooning, and drank with them, too. Her failed sexual encounter with Jackson Pollock ended when he “threw his drawers out the window.” And she lived out her last years in a magnificent palazzo in Venice, leaving behind a socko […]
Described as “the father of African cinema,” Ousmane Sembène receives a mostly conventional biodocumentary in Sembene!, but it is enlivened by biographer Samba Gadjigo’s personal perspectives and an impressive array of contextual footage, personal photographs, rare archival footage, interviews with intimates, and clips of Sembène’s films that are only now being preserved. Sembène had much […]
Local public radio station WNYC frequently intones a quote attributed to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia: “This is New York, a city of opportunity where nearly eight million people live in peace and harmony and enjoy the benefits of democracy.” Frederick Wiseman’s 40th feature documentary, In Jackson Heights, visually demonstrates this theme through the microcosm of […]
While you may not know his name, Don McCullin’s iconic photographs will be familiar to many. McCullin, produced and directed by siblings Jacqui Morris and David Morris, documents the career of the internationally known, and notoriously private, British photojournalist. With unprecedented access, Jacqui, his former camera assistant, captures Don reflecting on a career that spans […]
It’s the same every damn time, isn’t it? Reports of a mass shooting roll in on the TV. Ashen-face police chiefs announce a death toll. Victims and survivors weep. Arguments flare about guns. And then it happens again. And again. How will the circle be unbroken? The documentary The Armor of Light shows how two […]
Ping-pong, or table tennis, has been a part of the Olympics since 1988, and the three teen players profiled in Top Spin make it clear why. Their athleticism is undeniable; they move so quickly the footage of their competitions looks undercranked. The level of technique is further mystifying, as they make the ball move in […]
Chantal Akerman’s No Home Movie places her mother in the center, but the film’s real star is death. It hangs ever present over the movie, making itself felt more acutely in the sad light of the filmmaker’s recent presumed suicide, days before she was scheduled to present this film at the New York Film Festival. […]
It’s hard to imagine a more fascinating place on earth than Chile. If we had to pick one country to show an alien race what varying geographical features our planet has to offer, it would probably be that country. It has more than 4,000 kilometers of coastline and the highest volcano and part of the […]
Like MetLife and its commercial use of Snoopy, Laurie Anderson deploys her cute canine as an entry point to mull a subject people usually avoid thinking about: death. The depiction of the life and 2011 death of her rat terrier, Lolabelle, at first seems like those endless photos of and commentary on beloved pets posted […]