DOC NYC Spring Showcase: Free Online Documentary Fest

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 18 May 2021 19:59

Written by Brad Balfour

DOC NYC, one of the largest documentary festivals in the US, is initiating a new festival for the spring season. The DOC NYC Spring Showcase, an online screening series for documentary lovers, runs from May 24th – June 20th, 2021.  Spring Showcase gives viewers FREE ACCESS to 14 of this year’s most talked-about nonfiction films and series, paired with exclusive conversations featuring the creative teams behind them. Over the course of four weeks, hear from creators Padma Lakshmi, Steve James, Fran Lebowitz, Asif Kapadia, Dr. Orna Guralnik, Louis Theroux, and more, in Q&As moderated by DOC NYC’s programming team. The lineup spans a wide variety of nonfiction formats and subjects, from hosted series to biographies, vérité films, and multi-part cultural explorations, covering everything from culinary history to city politics, pop music, and the inner workings of intimate relationships.

Films and events include:

• Louis Theroux: Life on the Edge – Q&A with writer and presenter Louis Theroux
  Screening May 24 – 25

• The Infinite Race – Q&A with filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz and film editor Flavia de Souza
  Screening May 26 – 27

• High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America – Q&A with executive producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger; and series producer Shoshana Guy
  Screening May 28 – 29

• The Year Earth Changed – Q&A with executive producer Alice Keens-Soper
  Screening May 30 – 31

• 76 Days – Q&A with director/producer Hao Wu
  Screening June 1 – 2

• City So Real – Q&A with director/producer/cinematographer/editor Steve James and producer/sound recordist Zak Piper
  Screening June 3 – June 4

• Couples Therapy – Q&A with director/executive producer Josh Kriegman, director Kim Roberts, executive producer Elyse Steinberg, psychoanalyst and psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik
  Screening June 5 – 6

• Secrets of the Whales – Q&A with National Geographic explorer & photographer/producer Brian Skerry and composer Raphaelle Thibaut
  Screening June 7 – 8

• Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi – Q&A with host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi|
  Screening June 9 – 10

• The Social Dilemma – Q&A with director Jeff Orlowski and producer Larissa Rhodes
  Screening June 11 – 12

• Framing Britney Spears – Q&A with producer/director Samantha Stark, showrunner/executive producer Mary Robertson, and story editor Liz Day
  Screening June 13 – 14

• Pretend It’s a City – Q&A with series subject/executive producer Fran Lebowitz
  Screening June 15 – 16

• 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything – Q&A with executive producer/series director Asif Kapadia, executive producer James Gay-Rees, executive producer/editor Chris King, series producer/director Danielle Peck and director James Rogan
  Screening June 17 – 18

• Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry – Q&A with director/writer/producer R.J. Cutler, cinematographer Jenna Rosher, editor Greg Finton and editor Lindsay Utz
  Screening June 19 – 20

To learn more, go to: https://www.docnyc.net/spring-showcase-2021/

DOC NYC Spring Showcase
May 24 - June 20, 2021

SEEFest 2021: The Cinema of South East Europe

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 26 April 2021 13:44

Written by Brad Balfour

With a whopping 54 films being shown, the South East European Film Festival (or SEEFest for short) has a bingeable line up of movies. Comprised of films from countries such as Turkey, Croatia, and Armenia, SEEFest promotes the cultural diversity of South East Europe while also tackling issues facing the region. Running April 28 to May 5, this is the 16th installment of the fest and will screen the films online.

Films include:

• WIND HORSE dir. Sidar İnan Erçelik [Turkey]
  A poetic Turkish film that borrows its title from Asian shamanism where the term is used as a metaphor to describe the human soul. Through a story of two shepherds from Anatolia, one of whom becomes a celebrated jockey, the film juxtaposes human desire for success with the toll on the spirit of freedom in both humans and horses.

• MY DIGITAL NOMAD dir. Katah Olah [Hungary]
  An intimate, first person documentary about nomadic lifestyle, explored through the relationship between a mother and daughter throughout countries and years.

• NUN OF YOUR BUSINESS dir. Ivana Marinić Kragić [Croatia]
• The story of two young nuns who meet and fall in love during a Catholic gathering in Croatia. They live in two separate convents, but the spaces they once considered havens of solace and spiritual fulfillment turn out to be more earthly than expected.

• LANDSCAPE ZERO dir. Bruno Pavić [Croatia]
  A small coastal area has been destroyed by the presence of industrial facilities. Follows the lives of people who are either fighting for their survival among the dangerous facilities or coexisting in harmony with them.

• LINE OF LIFE dir. Darko Bajic [Serbia]
  Miloš Bajić was brought to the infamous Mauthausen concentration camp in the autumn of 1944, right after he began art school in Belgrade. Registered as prisoner 106621, with a note that said RETURN UNDESIRABLE, he secretly drew the crimes committed in the camp and every movement of the prisoners. He hid his drawings, knowing that he would be shot if they were found.

• THAT OTHER VILLAGE dir. Jadran Boban [Croatia]
  The story of a village that twice changed its name, population, and its own history. Hidden on the outskirts of Europe and nestled between two mountains in Eastern Croatia, the village is haunted by unending trauma passed on from generation to generation.

• GLORY TO THE QUEEN dir. Tatia Skhirtladze, Anna Khazaradze [Georgia/Austria]
  During the Cold War, four legendary female chess players from Georgia revolutionized women’s chess across the globe and became Soviet icons of female emancipation. 

To learn more, go to: https://seefilmla.org/

16th Annual SEEFest
April 28 - May 5, 2021

2021 TCM Classic Film Festival: Cinema History on TV & Streaming

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 23 April 2021 15:52

Written by Brad Balfour

 The Decline of Western Civilization

Combining televised screenings, virtual streams, and special guests appearances, TCM and HBO Max will be presenting the TCM Classic Film Festival. Along with cinematic greats like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, West Side Story, and The Maltese Falcon, there’s also a slate of documentaries that go from animation (Tex Avery: The King of Cartoons) to the LA punk rock scene (The Decline of Western Civilization). The documentaries being shown are:

TCM CHANNEL

• May 8- 6:00am ET
  TEX AVERY: THE KING OF CARTOONS (1988) Documentary about the life and career of animator and director Frederick Bean “Tex” Avery.

• May 8- 11:45am ET
  NICHOLS AND MAY: TAKE TWO (1996): TCM premiere of this documentary about the influential comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Four of their radio sketches have been re-created with new animation created especially for the program. Includes conversation with author Mark Harris, Mike Nichols: A Life

• May 9- 3:00am ET
  FROM BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD (2015): Pianist Richard Glazier offers a unique view of Broadway and Hollywood music using fascinating interviews, piano performances and commentary in this broadcast special.

• May 10- 4:15am ET
  NEWS FROM HOME (1977): A female film director explores New York City while enduring demanding letters from her mother.
  
  

HBO MAX (Available from May 6)

• THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (1981): Documentary cameras capture the thriving Los Angeles punk scene of the early 1980s. Featured in the Discoveries collection, Festival extras include a discussion with director Penelope Spheeris.

• THE MÉLIÈS MYSTERY (2020): A North American premiere, this documentary by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange details the process of restoring 270 of the 520 lost films of pioneering director Georges Méliès, all orchestrated by a Franco-American collaboration between Lobster Films, the National Film Center and the Library of Congress. Included in the Festival collection are five recently restored short films (A Trip to the Moon, The Impossible Voyage, Four Troublesome Heads, The Infernal Cauldron, The Old Hag)

Along with these documentaries are special Tributes, a series of discussion with Danny Glover, Ali MacGraw, and Martin Short. The Masters is a series of films screened with special introductions by directors including Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA), Mira Nair (The Namesake), and Steve McQueen (The Hunger).

To learn more, go to: https://filmfestival.tcm.com/

2021 TCM Classic Film Festival

Thursday, May 6 through Sunday, May 9 at two virtual venues: the TCM network and the Classics Curated by TCM Hub on HBO Max.