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:

Queen of the Sun - (rating - 83%) In 1923, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian scientist, philosopher & social innovator, predicted that in 80 to 100 years honeybees would collapse. Now, beekeepers around the United States and all over the world are reporting an incredible loss of honeybees, a phenomenon deemed "Colony Collapse Disorder." This "pandemic" is indicated by bees disappearing in mass numbers from their hives with no clear single explanation. The queen is there, honey is there, but the bees are gone. Queen of the Sun investigates the long-term causes behind the dire global bee crisis through the eyes of biodynamic beekeepers, commercial beekeepers, scientists and philosophers. Together they take us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and into the mysterious world of the beehive. The film unveils 10,000 years of beekeeping, illuminating the deep link between humans and bees and how that historic and sacred relationship has been lost due to highly mechanized industrial practices. (Rottentomatoes.com)

My Perestroika - (rating - 83%) When the USSR broke apart in 1991, a generation of young people faced a new realm of possibilities. An intimate epic about the extraordinary lives of this last Soviet generation, Robin Hessman's documentary tells the stories of five Moscow schoolmates who were brought up behind the Iron Curtain, witnessed the joy and confusion of glasnost, and reached adulthood right as the world changed around them. Through candid first-person testimony, revealing verité footage, and vintage home movies, Hessman reveals a Russia rarely ever seen on film, where people are frank about their lives and forthcoming about their country. Engaging, funny, and positively inspiring, in My Perestroika politics is personal, honesty overshadows ideology, and history progresses one day, one life at a time. (Rottentomatoes.com)

Thunder Soul - (no rating provided) Straight out of a high school in Texas, the electrifying Kashmere Stage Band was the brainchild of gifted music teacher Conrad Johnson. Johnson's dynamic arrangements transformed the idea of the high school band, and brought his students worldwide recognition. That success changed not just their lives, but the fortune of their whole community. As one spectator remarked, "They were on fire." He was right -- they still are. (Rottentomatoes.com)

Documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock passes away

Richard Leacock, one of the forefathers of cinema verite, passed away Wednesday at the age of 89.

Leacock was known for his cinematography work on Primary, a documentary following John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. But probably more importantly, he figured out a way to sync recorded audio and video - a key limitation to capturing quality audio outside studios. As a result, filmmakers were able to capture real life with all the wondrous sounds we are now so accustomed to in the documentary world.

Leacock may not be a household name, but he certainly influenced all the household names that came after him. Documentary film fans owe him a great deal of respect and this site in particular mourns the loss.

Trailer: Greatest Movie Ever Sold

I love me some Morgan Spurlock, so the trailer for his most recent film has made me quite giddy. Already featured at Sundance and SXSW, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is primed to keep the Spurlock firmly in the spotlight as the documentary genre's most entertaining directors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3aslwHzBBo

After you watch the trailer, head on over to the film's official website to learn more about the documentary. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold follows Spurlock as he investigates product placement in American culture by making a film funded solely by product placement and advertisements. It's set for a limited release April 22nd.

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:

Bill Cunningham New York - (rating - 92%) - "We all get dressed for Bill," says Vogue editrix Anna Wintour. The "Bill" in question is New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours." Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller-who all appear in the film), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham's enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace. (Rottentomatoes.com)

Nostalgia for the Light - (rating - 100%) - Director Patricio Guzmán (The Battle of Chile, The Pinochet Case) travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners, from the 1973 military coup. So while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies, at the foot of the mountains, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped here, search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones, to reclaim their families' histories. (Rottentomatoes.com)

South by Southwest spotlights great documentaries

Yesterday we shed light on a few of the many documentaries airing at the South By Southwest film festival the past several days. Well today, Austin360.com is taking a more general look at the awesome documentaries unveiled at this year's event. And while we hate to tell you to head to another site, we must say, the article is a good one (especially if you love documentaries).

Head on over to austin360.com to read why the SXSW film festival is proving our beloved documentary genre is hitting its stride.

South by Southwest Films

So most people know 'South by Southwest' as one of the great American music festivals in the country (especially if you are a fan of more independent artists). But you may not know SXSW also has a pretty expansive film festival as well.

Now again, the number of films (especially documentaries) screening are almost too numerous to discuss here, however, to wet your appetite we'll list the 8 selections chosen for the Documentary Feature Competition. Each of the following films are a world premier (they were also chosen out of a field of over 800 submissions!).

Definitely head to the SWSW website to learn more about these films and countless others.

Better This World
Directors: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega
Two boyhood friends from Midland, Texas cross a line that radically changes their lives. The result: eight homemade bombs, multiple domestic terrorism charges and a high stakes entrapment defense hinging on a controversial FBI informant. (World Premiere)

The City Dark
Director: Ian Cheney
The film chronicles the disappearance of darkness, following astronomers, cancer researchers, ecologists and philosophers in a quest to understand what is lost in the glare of city lights. (World Premiere)

DRAGONSLAYER
Director: Tristan Patterson
Killer Films presents the transmissions of a lost kid, falling in love, in the suburbs of Fullerton, California. Featuring skateboarding, the usual drugs, and stray glimpses of unusual beauty. (World Premiere)

FIGHTVILLE
Directors: Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein
A documentary about the art and sport of fighting: a microcosm of life, a physical manifestation of that other brutal contest called the American Dream. (World Premiere)

Kumaré (U.S.A/India)
Director: Vikram Gandhi
A documentary about a man who impersonates a wise Indian Guru and builds a following in Arizona. (World Premiere)

LAST DAYS HERE
Directors: Don Argott & Demian Fenton
The film follows middle-aged rocker Bobby Liebling, lead singer of the cult hard rock/heavy metal band Pentagram, as he leaves his parents' basement in search of the life he never lived. (World Premiere)

A Matter of Taste
Director: Sally Rowe
Considered a rising star of haute cuisine, Paul Liebrandt found his career stalled in New York’s austere environment post 9/11. Paul struggles over the next decade as he tries to make his way back to the top. (World Premiere)

Where Soldiers Come From
Director: Heather Courtney
From a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, the film follows the four-year journey of childhood friends and their town, forever changed by a faraway war. (World Premiere)

Tony Blair's Faith Shorts Film Festival

According to CNN, Tony Blair is continuing last year's "Faith Shorts" film contest, after the former UK Prime Minister was impressed with the response from youth all over the world.

Though it's not entirely a documentary related story, it's great to see how his foundation (http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/) is encouraging people to get into film even if they don't have the 'proper equipment' most competitions demand.

Again, according to CNN, "The foundation will accept not only movies made with professional equipment, but even ones shot with cell phones, judging each film based on the equipment available to the filmmaker. And young people who have an idea but no equipment at all can apply to the foundation to win a portable video camera to make their film."

Only 14-to-18-year olds can submit films, but there are three categories to choose from: family, action, or musical movie. The deadline is July 1st, so head on over to the foundations website to learn more, because it could mean winning a trip to London to see your film premiered at BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and the chance to make a film with a professional crew!

Best of True/False Film Fest?

The year has barely begun and I already have a major regret: not going to the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri. The non-competitive festival has quickly become one of the more prominent documentary festivals in the United States- serving as a nice relaxing arena for viewing excellent/quirky documentaries.

With over 40 films (some of which premiered at Sundance, IDFA, or other prominent festivals), it's impossible to go into any depth about all these films (head to truefalse.org if you feel the need to explore though), but Indiewire has opted to write a list of their favorites.

The South by Southwest film/music festival begins this Friday, but in the meantime, you might want to see what Indiewire is saying about the films from True/False, as they will inevitably make their way to a festival (or theater) near you.

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:

Sons of Perdition- (rating - 100%) - An inside look at polygamist teens who have become religious refugees in mainstream America. An inside look at polygamist teens who have become religious refugees in mainstream America. (Rottentomatoes.com)

Inside Job gets DVD release

Did you miss out on Charles Ferguson's Oscar winning documentary? Well fear not! Sony Pictures Classics recently announced Inside Job will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 8th!

If you missed out on the other Oscar nominees, here's a breakdown of when you can buy them:

- Exit Through the Gift Shop: Available now for DVD and digital download, March 8th for Blu-Ray
- Gasland: Available now on DVD
- Restrepo: Available now on DVD and Blu-Ray
- Waste Land: Set for March 15th release

So there you go. By the middle of this month you could own all five Academy Award nominated documentaries, and if there ever was a year to do that, now's the time.