Produced and Directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White Released by HBO Documentary Films USA. 112 min. Not rated In comparison to some of the acute, trenchant social issues currently informing U.S. political discourse—racial injustice, police brutality, biased judicial systems, third-wave feminism—the dialogue concerning same-sex marriage may now seem, to some, to be a bit […]

Directed by Edet Belzberg Produced by Belzberg, Amelia Green-Dove and Kerry Propper Based on A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power Released by Music Box Films English and Zaghawa, Spanish, French with English subtitles USA. 121 min. Not rated Just weeks before Watchers Of the Sky opened in theaters, […]

Directed by Jeremy Xido Produced by Xido, Joseph Castelo Portuguese, with English subtitles Released by the Vladar Company USA/Angola. 84 min. Rare is the region with no sound of its own. For the Dominican Republic: merengue and bachata. For Lebanon: dabke. For Angola: death metal? In Jeremy Xido’s docu—dare I say-rock-you—mentary Death Metal Angola, we […]

Written, Produced, and Directed by Gabe Polsky Released by Sony Pictures Classics USA/Russia. 85 min. Rated PG A captivating look at one of the great successes of the Soviet experiment, Red Army uncovers how the Soviet Union’s ice hockey team dominated world competition to an unprecedented extent in the 1970s and ‘80s. It featured a […]

Edited, Written, and Directed and edited by Marshall Curry Produced by Curry, Mr. Matthew VanDyke and Elizabeth Martin Released by the Orchard USA. 82 min. Not rated Most of us have moments when we are not comfortable in our own skin and not sure of who we are. Most of us might switch jobs or […]

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 […]

Filmed, Edited, Produced and Directed by Judy Irving Released by Shadow Distribution USA. 80 min. Rated G A California brown pelican blocks traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Bystanders watch as bridge security capture it and place it in the back of a waiting police car. Someone jokingly comments, “Awww, he got arrested.” Not quite, […]

Directed by Carlos Agulló and Mandy Jacobson Produced by Jacobson Written by Stephen W. Smith Released by Trinity South Africa. 82 min. Not rated It’s easy to forget what an embarrassment on the global stage South Africa’s apartheid regime was, not least because of how far into the modern era it extended, officially ending only […]

Directed by Laura Poitras Produced by Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky Released by Radius Germany/USA. 114 min. Rated R The central, absorbing act of Citizenfour is viewing Edward Snowden like never before. He’s a human being in cinema verité close-up during the days when the computer contractor hands over United States government documents on […]