The DOC NYC festival kicked off this week. At Eye For Film, Anne-Katrin interviewed DOC NYC programmer Basil Tsiokos in two parts: part one here and part two here. At the New York Times Stephen Holden provided an overview of the festival, while Kevin Ritchie profiled it for Realscreen. At the POV blog, Tom Roston named his must-see films of the festival, while Lauren Wissot did the same at Filmmaker Magazine.
This week the doc community lost Kartemquin Films founding partner Jerry Blumenthal. At the Kartemquin website Tim Horsburgh shared an encomium for Blumenthal, while Manori Ravindran wrote on his passing for Realscreen.
The film ACTRESS from filmmaker Robert Greene started its theatrical run this week.
This week the film ACTRESS from director Robert Greene started a theatrical run at the Film Society at Lincoln Center. At Filmmaker Magazine, Vadim Rizov interviewed Greene, as did Steven Erickson at the Press Play blog at Indiewire. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of the A.V. Club reviewed the film, as did Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine’s Vulture blog. And Noel Murray penned a review for The Dissolve.
Frederick Wiseman’s latest film, NATIONAL GALLERY, also reached theaters in New York this week. Calum Marsh interviewed the filmmaker at the website of Penguin Random House’s Hazlitt imprint. Also, Manohla Dargis reviewed the film for the New York Times.
At the New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed the film VIRUNGA from director Orlando von Einsiedel. Zach Sharf of Indiewire interviewed von Einsiedel on the making of his film, as did Tom Roston at the POV blog.
This week Stranger Than Fiction closes out its fall season with a screening of ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE, a film from directors Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker capturing the performances of some R&B greats. The film screens Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 pm at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Following the screening, Hegedus and Pennebaker will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
The film POINT AND SHOOT from director Marshall Curry was among those nominated for an IDA award this week.
This week the International Documentary Association (IDA) announced the nominees for its documentary awards. Kevin Ritchie covered the announcement for Realscreen, while Anne Thompson did the same on her Thompson on Hollywood blog at Indiewire.
The Macarthur Foundation this week announced that 15 documentary projects had received grants from the institution. Realscreen’s Kevin Ritchie covered the announcement. And at the POV blog Tom Roston interviewed grant recipient Yance Ford.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting two screenings at the IFC Center. On Tuesday, November 4 at 8:00 p.m. STF presents THE WAR ROOM from directors Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, a film that follows the inner workings of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Following the screening Hegedus and Pennebaker will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
WHITE EARTH from director J. Christian Jensen was among the short documentaries to make the Oscar short list this year.
This week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the shortlist for films nominated as best short documentary for 2014. At Nonfics.com, Christopher Campbell had coverage of the announcement, as did Adam Benzine of Realscreen. Manori Ravindran of Realscreen rounded up the trailers for the shortlist, while Gregg Kilday of The Hollywood Reporter also covered the news.
Laura Poitras’ new film CITIZENFOUR opened in limited release this past weekend. At Indiewire, Eric Kohn interviewed Poitras in two parts: part one, part two. At the Dissolve, David Ehrlich also interviewed Poitras, as did Andrew O’Hehir of Salon. Anne Thompson of the Indiewire blog Thompson on Hollywood also interviewed Poitras. At Indiewire, Anthony Kaufman wrote on the legal challenges faced by Poitras and other filmmakers in completing their films.
THE WHITENESS PROJECT director Whitney Dow was interviewed on “CBS This Morning” this week. Jess Joho of Killscreen also spoke with Dow for a piece at the magazine. And Jess Linington of i-Docs reviewed the project for the site.
This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of MOON OVER BROADWAY from directors Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, a backstage look at the Broadway production of “Moon Over Buffalo.” The screening is on Tuesday, October 28 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Following the screening, Hegedus and Pennebaker will be in attendance for a Q&A session. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.
This post was written by STF blogger Krystal Grow.
The iconic synth-pop band Depeche Mode took their name from the French words for ‘fast fashion,’ and as they set out on the road in 1988, with two 40 foot trailers, an emerald green jet and a convoy of tour buses loaded with young fans, they traveled at a nearly unrivaled speed.
This week’s installment of Stranger Than Fiction continued along it’s survey of DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus films, leaping from Dylan in the 60s and Broadway in the 70s to Depeche Mode 101 in the late 80s. In another of the duo’s candid music films, they follow the band on a tour across the US, where they were greeted by stadiums full of roaring crowds, who were fully submerged not only in the band’s hypnotic electro-pop, but also embraced and adopted their distinct sense of style.
“I’d never heard their music before. I didn’t know anything about them,” Pennebaker said in the Q&A following the film. “So I went to see them live in San Fransisco, and it was like they had this crowd there that just existed solely for them. After that I knew we needed to make the film.”
And so began the verite-journey into the weird world of goth-pop-arena-rock, a genre that peaked with Depeche Mode‘s Music for the Masses tour and captured the strange cultural zeitgeist of the late 80s. The music was as anti-establishment as Pennebaker and Hegedus’ off-the-cuff filmmaking, but also had a melodic elegance and youthful energy. Led by Dave Gahan’s smooth but powerful alto voice, the band had corralled a massive and dedicated fan base, which came out en masse to most of their stateside performances. That crowd was an essential part of the story for Pennebaker and Hegedus, so much so that they organized a radio call-in contest to recruit a small posse of super fans to follow the band towards their penultimate performance at the Pasedena Rose Bowl.
“The music was so original, but we felt like we needed something else,” Hegedus said, “so we came up with this contest to take these kids across the country.” Those kids, with their hair spray, hats and exceptionally outlandish outfits, bring the epic fandom that Depeche Mode inspired to an adorably accessible level as they navigate their way through a kind of boozy synth-pop summer camp.
Now well into their adulthood, three of the eight contest winners were on the scene at STF this week, and joined the Q&A with Pennebaker, Hegedus, and STF Artistic Director Thom Powers.
“When the film first came out, I really didn’t like it,” said super fan Oliver Chesler, who is now musician based in New York and well known for innovative and unusual electronic compositions. “Then again, I was such a fanatic I really didn’t think any video footage could capture what it was like to be there and to see them, but looking back now, you really did.”
Krystal Grow is an arts writer and photo editor based in New York. She has written for TIME LightBox, TIME.com, LIFE.com, the New York Times Lens Blog, the Magnum Foundation and the DOC NYC blog. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @kgreyscale.
