First-time director Lotfy Nathan's 12 O' CLOCK BOYS is screening at SXSW this year.
For someone mired in New York City’s dark winter for far too long, South by Southwest holds the promise of warmer climes, reasonably priced barbeque and cold beer. This year–like any other–the festival’s programmers have put together a selection of non-fiction work designed to entice any self-proclaimed fan of documentary out of the sunshine and into a darkened theater. Here are five films I think are worth waiting in line for.
THESE BIRDS WALK (Visions) Last summer Filmmaker magazine anointed the duo of Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq as among the 25 new faces of indie film, and for good reason. The pair earned a mountain of press for their 30 Mosques in 30 Days documentary project and its user-generated offshoot, 30 Days of Ramadan. Mullick and Tariq banned both voiceover and talking heads in the making of THESE BIRDS WALK, a portrait of a young runaway living in Karachi, over which hovers the story of Pakistani humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi. The film comes to Austin fresh from a screening at the True/False Film Fest, where it built both buzz and a solid base of support among viewers. Watch the trailer; if there’s a heart beating in your body I promise you will have goosebumps.
12 O’CLOCK BOYS (Feature Competition) Lotfy Nathan’s directorial debut ostensibly follows the not-quite-yet teenager Pug as he seeks to align himself with an outlaw dirt bike gang that runs roughshod over the streets of Baltimore. But the clear subtext of 12 O’CLOCK BOYS is the dire economic and class divisions that drive Charm City’s young bikers to define themselves oppositionally to the Baltimore police, along with pretty much any other established social institution. Nathan’s film ends with a major catharsis for his subject, but probably not in the way you’d expect.
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The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer was one of the films that screened at True/False this year.
The focus of much of the doc world was in Columbia, Missouri, this weekend for the 10th True/False Film Fest. At the POV blog, Tom Roston recapped his experience, explaining how the festival’s idiosyncrasies add up to a great film experience. Roston earlier in the week had also described why True/False is a standout among festivals. For a look at news that came out of the festival, you can head over to the news section of their website.
LEVIATHAN from directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel got a great press bump in advance of the theatrical release of the film this weekend at the IFC Center. Writing for Filmmaker Magazine, Robert Greene shared his take on the film, describing it as the “progeny of direct cinema, experimental film and ethnography,” while Anthony Kaufman of the SundanceNOW blog considered some of the film’s horror genre-like qualities. At the Documentary Channel blog, Christopher Campbell spoke with Castaing-Taylor, while Indiewire’s Eric Kohn spoke with both Castaing-Taylor and Paravel. Rich Juzwiak of Gawker also had an in-depth look at the film, and Forrest Cardamenis of The Film Stage and Melissa Anderson of the Village Voice both reviewed the film.
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The film INOCENTE from directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine took home the Oscar for best short documentary this year.
Coming as no surprise to anyone, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN by Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul–which screening in DOC NYC’s short list section last year–took home this year’s Oscar for best documentary, after going on an impressive awards run that lasted pretty much all year. The Oscar for best short-form documentary went to INOCENTE from directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine; the film follows a young, undocumented and homeless artist in San Diego.
For those interested in the practice of Monday morning quarterbacking, there was no shortage of prognostications prior to Sunday’s awards ceremony, with SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN named as the odds-on favorite by most, including Adam Benzine of Realscreen. He was joined by Richard Corliss of Time and Tom Roston on the POV blog. On the New York Times Carpetbagger blog Larry Rohter considered how the recent voting rules changes had helped SUGAR MAN. Rohter also spoke with HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE director David France about his filmmaking education, while Peter Knegt of Indiewire also talked to the team behind the film. At Movies.com Christopher Campbell wondered whether the “most important” doc films would win awards. At AwardsDaily.com, Brian Whisenant similarly considered how important docs stacked up against entertaining ones. In another post for POV, Tom Roston recalled Michael Moore’s 2003 acceptance speech denouncing the Iraq War. Writing for the Documentary Channel blog, Christopher Campbell made the argument that THE INVISIBLE WAR director Kirby Dick deserved greater recognition for his professional body of work. (Campbell’s argument was helped by the fact that Dick’s film picked up the best documentary award at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, and that it also won the 2013 Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize.)
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Director Kirby Dick's The Invisible War is one of the five films vying for an Oscar this year.
With the Oscars just under a week away now, media attention on the nominated docs has been ramping up. This week WNYC host Brian Lehrer interviewed all five of the filmmakers behind the nominated films; you can find a link to all of the shows here. Ed Gonzales of Slate Magazine also provided a breakdown of the nominees and picked a favorite to win. Over at the Huffington Post, entertainment editors Michael Hogan and Christopher Rosen considered all of the nominees (although Rosen admitted that he had not seen any of them). Writing for the Tribeca Institute’s blog, Joe Reid gave readers a round-up of the Oscar-nominated doc shorts. At Vanity Fair, Alyssa Bereznak spoke with THE INVISIBLE WAR director Kirby Dick, while Sharon Waxman did the same for The Wrap. At the New York Times Carpetbagger blog, Larry Rohter took a look at the debate brewing over whether 5 BROKEN CAMERAS should be considered a Palestinian or an Israeli movie.
A number of interviews with directors also hit the web this week. Patrick Brzeski of The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Joshua Oppenheimer, director of THE ACT OF KILLING. (Oppenheimer this week also left the Berlin International Film Festival with the audience award for his film.) Christopher Campbell of the Documentary Channel blog interviewed Chris James Thompson, director of THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES, and also Lee Hirsch, director of the film BULLY. At Filmmaker Magazine, Sarah Salovaara also spoke with Hirsch, posing him five questions. At The Awl, Rick Paulus talked with filmmaker Spencer McCall about his film THE INSTITUTE, a look at the cryptic game The Jejune Institute. At Screen Daily, Andreas Wiseman interviewed Ken Loach about his new film THE SPIRIT OF ‘45, which recently screened at the Berlinale. Filmmaker Bonnie Boswell spoke with Maria Goodavage of the Independent Lens blog on her upcoming film THE POWERBROKER: WHITNEY YOUNG’S FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS. And finally, Sam Clements of Vice spoke with THE HOUSE I LIVE IN director Eugene Jarecki.
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Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, directors of the film LEVIATHAN, are set to be honored at True/False this year.
This week the True/False Film Fest, set to run Feb. 28 – March 3 in Columbia, Missouri, announced the lineup for this year’s incarnation of the festival. Adam Benzine of Realscreen reported the news. The festival this week also announced that directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel would receive the True Vision Award for their body of work. The festival also said its True Life Fund would recognize Sebastian Junger’s doc WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? THE LIFE & TIME OF TIM HETHERINGTON.
Across the Atlantic, the Berlin International Film Festival kicked off on Feb. 7 and is slated to conclude on Feb. 17. On his What (Not) to Doc blog, Basil Tsiokos provided an overview of the docs screening at the Berlinale this year. Adam Dawtrey of Variety took a look at the business side of the festival. And Tom Christie, writing for Indiewire, had a review of THE ACT OF KILLING from director Joshua Oppenheimer.
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