Theatrical Releases

Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:

Strongman - (rating - 100%) - A man strong enough to bend a penny with just his fingers, Stanless Steel reaches middle age, career disappointments and difficult personal relationships that begin to test his strengths and force him to struggle with the weaknesses around him.(Rottentomatoes)

Lemmy - (rating - 82%) - Over four decades, Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister has registered an immeasurable impact on music history. Nearly 65, he remains the living embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle, and this feature-length documentary tells his story, one of a hard-living rock icon who continues to enjoy the life of a man half his age. Shot on a combination of High Definition and Super 16mm film, "Lemmy" includes interviews with friends, family, bandmates past and present and such admirers/peers as Metallica, Slash, Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters), Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), actor Billy Bob Thornton, wrestling superstar Triple H, Alice Cooper, Mick Jones of The Clash, and many more. (Rottentomatoes)

Get your hair done right in this new trailer

Did you know Vidal Sassoon was an actual person? I honestly didn't. I thought it was just a clever/sophisticated brand name, but I'm also fashion illiterate.

But I digress. For those who know (or don't know) the hair man to revolutionize hair, there's a documentary out highlighting this quirky individual. Appropriately titled Vidal Sassoon The Movie, it is set for release in mid February (currently: Chicago, LA and New York only).

It looks to be highly entertaining... if not a little over the top in its praise. So head on over to the film's website to check out the trailer and learn more about the man who brought style back to hair.

From Ace Ventura to The Nutty Professor to... a documentary?

You might not consider Tom Shadyac to be an intellectual filmmaker. The director has found fame making films like Bruce/Evan Almighty, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Patch Adams, the Nutty Professor and other similarly humorous but otherwise intellectually void movies.

So it comes as a bit of a shock that Shadyac is jumping into the documentary world with a subject that seems completely out of his realm. His film, I Am, follows the director as he "speaks with intellectual and spiritual leaders about what's wrong with our world and how we can improve both it and the way we live in it."

Sounds a bit generic and cheesy, but I must say the trailer looks pretty good and boasts a strong cast of interviews. I Am does not have an official website, but you can head on over to IMDB.com to learn more about the film and watch it's trailer. Shadyac plans on releasing his documentary in February (I assume it will be of the limited variety).

Oscar Nominees Announced!

Ok, so unless you have been living under a rock the past 24 hours, you are well aware that the Academy Awards announced their entire list of nominees for their February 27th award show. But while everyone else is focusing on the fictional films, we care more about the little guys, the documentaries. So without any more babble:

Documentary (Feature)
· “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
· “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
· “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
· “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
· “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)
· “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
· “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
· “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
· “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
· “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Frankly, I'm not surprised by the feature film selections. 'Restrepo' and 'Waste Land' are legitimately excellent films and Charles Ferguson has already proven he can make wonderfully informative documentaries. 'Gasland', though not a major player in most film festivals, won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance last year so it was clearly in the Academy's mind. And 'Exit Through the Gift Shop', for all it's early issues of audiences doubting it's legitimacy, has remained a crowd pleaser and with the out cry caused by ignoring fan favorites in recent years, it's clear the Academy is trying to play into public opinion (which I'm fine with- better to be in tune then disconnected).

The only mild surprise is the exclusion of Davis Guggenheim's 'Waiting For Superman', which seemed built for the Academy Awards (politically and socially relevant, respected director with moderate public celebrity). Then again, after a year of amazing documentaries this was bound to happen.

So what are your thoughts? Agree with the nominations? Is there another movie that should have made the cut instead? Post below!

Oprah eyes documentaries

With all the news coming out of Sundance (distribution deals, James Franco wearing a wig, etc) I wanted to make sure everyone caught what Oprah Winfrey said at her OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) party Saturday night:

“It is my intention to do for documentaries what we have done for books.”

It seems her new network has been acquiring documentaries for a few months now and plans to release these as part of a regular series. Titled, the 'Own Documentary Film Club,' it will be run by none other than Rosie O'Donnell.

While I'm not a hundred percent sure if this is an amazing thing or just the documentary version of the Lifetime Channel, some big names have already signed on to the collaboration, including Forrest Whitaker and Barbara Kopple.

So what do you think? Oprah and documentaries, a match made in heaven for our fair genre? Or will there just be an influx of stories for middle aged women with no benefit to other doc lovers? Post your thoughts below!

Sundance News

Sundance 2011 kicked off Thursday night and there's already plenty of news to discuss. So let's dive into it:

- Sony Pictures Worldwide acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. The documentary becomes the first success story of films seeking distributors and it hasn't even premiered yet (screening this Saturday)! The Greatest Movie Ever Sold focuses on product placement in entertainment and . Currently, Sony plans on releasing the film in early April.

- Sundance first major film? That's right, a documentary. Ok, technically three other films also kicked off the festival last night, but still, it's nice to see the documentary love coming from the great champion of independent cinema. What was the film? Why none other then Sing Your Song, a documentary following 83-year-old singer Harry Belafonte. Are you intrigued? I know I certainly am.

- Earlier this week, The Ford Foundation announced a five-year plan to pour $50 million into documentaries. The program, called JustFilms, plans to distribute money in several ways, including donations to festival workshops and funding individual films. If your a filmmaker (or just curious) head on over to their website for more details: www.fordfoundation.org/justfilms

Sundance Jurors Selected

Earlier this week, Sundance Film Festival announced its Jury members for their upcoming festival. Now Sundance covers every genre but we only really care about the documentaries, so if you want to read about the other Jury members, head on over to www.sundance.org/festival.

From Sundance:

U.S. DOCUMENTARY JURY
- Jeffrey Blitz directed the documentary Spellbound, Lucky and multiple episodes of NBC's "The Office."
- Matt Groening created the longest-running comedy in television history…The Simpsons.
- Laura Poitras is working on a trilogy of films about America post 9/11. The first two films, My Country, My Country and The Oath, have already received numerous awards.
- Jess Search is the Chief Executive of the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation which has given funding and support to over 60 British documentaries.
- Editor Sloane Klevin won an Emmy for her work on the feature documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. Her latest project is Freakonomics, for which she edited segments for Alex Gibney, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.


WORLD DOCUMENTARY JURY
- José Padilha, is a Brazilian producer, writer and director. He directed and produced the documentaries BUS 174, Garapa and Secrets of the Tribe, as well as the feature film Elite Squad.
- Mette Hoffmann Meyer is head of documentaries and co-productions for Danish DR TV.
- Lucy Walker has directed four award-winning feature documentaries: Devil's Playground, Blindsight, Countdown to Zero, and Wasteland.


So what do you think of the Jury line up? Personally, I'm a fan of most of the choices, though I'm curious to see how Groening fits in with the rest of the members. What are your thoughts?

Big Winners at Cinema Eye Honors Awards

Not exactly as high profile as some other award shows, the Cinema Eye Honors is one award show our website can truly support. In it's fourth year, this award show is all about nonfiction cinema. To quote their mission statement, "Cinema Eye’s mission is to advocate for, recognize and promote the highest commitment to rigor and artistry in the nonfiction field."

Their awards show was hosted last night, but will air on the Documentary Channel on January 30, 2011 (so get your TiVo ready!). But really, let's be honest, all you care about is who won:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
Outstanding Achievement in Direction: Laura Poitras, "The Oath"
Outstanding Achievement in Production: Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross, "Last Train Home"
Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Chris King and Tom Fulford, "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Lixin Fan, "Last Train Home"
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: Norbert Möslang, "The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy"
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation: Juan Cardarelli and Alex Tyson, "Gasland"
Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature: "Last Train Home"
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film: "Marwencol"
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking: "The Poodle Trainer"
Audience Choice Prize: "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work"
Legacy Award: "Grey Gardens"
Spotlight Award: "The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaucascu"Heterodox Award: "Putty Hill"


So what do you think? Is Exit Through the Gift Shop the best documentary of the year? Is Last Train Home worthy of three awards? I tend to agree with the previous years' winners, but this year, I see some debate.

'Crude' Filmmaker loses Court Appeal

Joe Berlinger is not a journalist. At least that's what a Federal Appeals court says.

The filmmaker for 2009's Crude is unable to invoke journalistic privilege and is no longer legally able to refuse to turn over more than 500 hours of raw footage from his documentary.

According to the judges, “Given all the circumstances of the making of the film... as reasonably found by the district court, particularly the fact that Berlinger’s making of the film was solicited by the plaintiffs in the Lago Agrio litigation for the purpose of telling their story, and that changes to the film were made at their instance, Berlinger failed to carry his burden of showing that he collected information for the purpose of independent reporting and commentary.”

Lawyers for Chevron have sought Berlinger's footage for months because they believe it demonstrates collusion between the plaintiffs in the Lago Agrio lawsuit and a court appointed independent expert.

For those who don't know, Crude chronicles the lawsuit brought by a group of Ecuadoreans who say Texaco's (now owned by Chevron) Lago Agrio oil field polluted their water supply. It remains locked in legal battle.

Berlinger (and most other documentary filmmakers) are understandably upset by the ruling which continues to wedge a distinction between documentaries and journalism.

What do you think? Should Berlinger be considered a journalist? Or do filmmakers operate in an unprotected gray area?

Theatrical Releases

Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).

Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:

Plastic Planet - (rating - 43%) - We live in the age of plastic. It's cheap and practical, and it's everywhere - even in our blood. But is it a danger to us? The amount of plastic we have produced since it was invented would be enough to cover the entire globe six times over. But this inexpensive and convenient substance comes with a hefty price. Plastic stays in the ground and water system for up to 500 years. Numerous studies have proven that the chemicals it releases migrate into the human body and may contribute to or cause grave health problems. For Austrian German director Werner Boote, plastic is personal. His grandfather was one of the early manufacturers of plastic and he introduced Boote at a young age to the magic substance that would change the world. Many years later, after reading about the global threat posed by plastic, he decides to embark on a quest to discover the truth about this pervasive substance.(Rottentomatoes)

Petition - (rating - 100%) - Since 1996, Zhao has documented the 'petitioners' who come from all over China to make complaints in Beijing about abuses committed by their local authorities. Gathered near the complaint offices, living in most cases in makeshift shelters, the complainants wait for months or years to obtain justice. Peasants thrown off their land, workers from factories which have gone into liquidation, small homeowners who have seen their houses demolished but received no compensation, they pursue justice with unceasing stubbornness, facing the most brutal intimidation and most often finding that their hopes are in vain. Unfolding like a novel by Zola or Dickens, but with the existential absurdity of Beckett, “Petition” reveals the persistent contradictions of China in the midst of powerful economic expansion. (Rottentomatoes)

I'm Dangerous with Love - (rating - 40%) African shamans have used Ibogaine in their rituals for centuries, but in the US it is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance and illegal, so Dimitri must work in underground networks to guide addicts through the same detox that he says saved his life. “I'm Dangerous with Love” traces Dimitri's risky journey as he treats desperate drug users. It follows this man of edgy energy as he goes from one addict to the next without stopping to catch his breath. It also follows him on his own search for recovery when one session goes bad in a remote snowed-in Canadian home, and a quiet young man almost dies. Dimitri must decide whether or not to continue his mission. Is he serving the addicts or simply releasing his own demons? To find answers, Dimitri travels to Gabon, West Africa, to consult with Bwiti shamans, and puts himself through a punishing Iboga initiation. (Rottentomatoes)