Documentaries about athletes and ruggedly macho jobs won awards at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival and were also popular with audiences. In Wavumba (“they who smell of fish” in Swahili), Best New Documentary Director Jeroen van Velzen finds the spiritual aspects of traditional shark hunting off the coast of Kenya through shamans and the eyes […]
Directed by Mark Meatto Produced by Michael Bohlmann & Meatto Released by International Film Circuit USA/UK. 88 min. Not Rated How to Grow a Band has a promising story to follow. A young, gifted musician rises from a narrow genre to commercial success, falls into personal turmoil, and finds catharsis with a new mode of […]
Directed by Morgan Spurlock Produced by Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Spurlock & Thomas Tull Written by Jeremy Chilnik, Whedon & Spurlock Released by Wrekin Hill Entertainment USA. 88 min. Rated PG-13 With Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Eli Roth, Robert Kirkman, Stan Lee, Harry Knowles, Seth Green and Seth Rogen For the first time […]
Written & Directed by Mathieu Roy & Harold Crooks, based on the book A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright Produced by Daniel Louis & Denise Robert Released by First Run Features Canada. 86 min. Not rated Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks’ film beautifully pieces together bits of history into an overarching discussion about […]
Directed by Lee Hirsch Written & Produced by Hirsch & Cynthia Lowen Released by the Weinstein Company USA. 98 min. Not Rated Bully goes to the frontlines of the war on middle and high school kids who don’t fit in. The embedded filmmakers expose the battles they and their families face, survive, or, even worse, […]
Directed by Jon Shenk Produced by Richard Berge & Bonni Cohen Released by Samuel Goldwyn Films English & Dhievi with English subtitles USA. 101 min. Rated PG The Island President makes climate change dramatic, political, personal, and the right stuff of leadership. The imminent future of the 400,000 people who live on the beautiful islands […]
Produced & Directed by Manfred Kirchheimer Released by First Run Features USA. 82 min. Not rated Veteran documentarian Manfred Kirchheimer (most recently 2007’s Spraymasters) employs the folk anthem “Which Side Are You On” in his newest film, assuming you’re already sympathetic to the causes that will be championed. The octogenarian German-born and NYC-trained cameraman/director has […]
Directed by Don Argott & Demian Fenton Produced by Sheena M. Joyce Released by Sundance Selects USA. 90 min. Not rated Can a doom metal cult hero get out of his parents’ basement and off drugs to finally capitalize on decades of fan fervor? And will anyone else care? Last Days Here follows the life […]
Directed by Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb Produced by Panahi Released by Palisades Tartan Iran. 75 min. Not Rated Farsi with English subtitles There have been movies heralding musicians, painters, photographers, and poets who persevered against oppression and restrictions, but this very unusual, deceptively simple documentary passionately reveals the essence of a filmmaker. This soulful […]