It’s another week without a new release, so in addition to just posting the latest expanded openings for docs still in theaters, I thought we could highlight the newly recognized Oscar nominees. They’re not all available presently (hopefully AMC will do a marathon of all the nominees next month) since two are already on DVD and one is a TV release, but let’s see what’s out there:
Hell and Back Again - Since it did just hit home video this week, Danfung Dennis’ war doc appears to be completely done with its run in cinemas. If it gets re-released or extra bookings due to its nomination, you should be able to find that info here.
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - Available on DVD since August, Marshall Curry’s film on domestic terrorism also appears to be out of theaters, for now.
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory - This doc, the third in the series from Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, was made for HBO and so only received a minor Oscar-qualifying theatrical run last fall.
Pina - Fortunately this theatrically necessary 3D doc from Wim Wenders is relatively new to cinemas and keep increasing its number of screens each week. As you can see below, there are 10 new locations showing the brilliant dance film. Still in only a few major markets, however, so hopefully its Academy recognition sparks interest elsewhere now.
Undefeated - Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin’s underdog football doc, which has been called a nonfiction Friday Night Lights, hasn’t hit theaters yet. The film opens February 17, at which time I’ll be able to discuss it more fully in that day’s Docs in Theaters column.
The Barber of Birmingham, God is the Bigger Elvis, Incident in New Baghdad, Saving Face and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom - All five of these nominated short documentaries will be released to cinemas on February 10 as part of the annual theatrical release of all Oscar-nominated shorts. Depending on their collective running time, the films could be split between two programs.
Interview: Alexandra Berger Talks “Danland,” Finding a Narrative in Verite Style and Being a Woman Documenting the Porn Industry
One of the highlights at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival is the documentary Danland, which follows the romantic pursuits of a well-known producer and star of amateur pornography. The film begins with this man, ‘Porno’ Dan Leal, on his wedding day, but we can’t really see who the bride is. Then we go back a few years and watch his relationships grow and die, some resurrected, others gone for good. It’s truly a movie for equal enjoyment among couples. There’s the porn stuff for the guys and the romance for the girls. And for just general doc lovers it’s an entertaining look into a strange and complicated world.
Although I was unable to make it to Park City this year, I managed to talk with Danland director Alexandra Berger from miles away. A veteran of the film industry, this is the filmmaker’s feature directorial debut and it displays a great new voice in the doc community and promise of wonderful things to come. Below is our conversation, in which we discussed inception of narrative in verite documentary, the benefit of being a woman documenting this subject matter and the difficulty to market a film that really should appeal to everyone.
How did you become involved with Dan and decide to make a film about him?
I had a friend who moved from New York to D.C., and when he did so he told me that he felt invisible, so he joined a Yahoo! Group of black men who fulfilled women’s fantasies of having multiple partners at once. And that Yahoo! Group was discovered by Dan Leal —‘Porno Dan’ — and Dan said, “hey, why don’t you guys come do your fantasy sex acts in my basement and I’ll shoot them and give you snacks and sodas, and if you don’t want to show your face you can wear a mask.” That group agreed and allowed Dan to do that. So then my friend confessed to me at one point that he had been performing in porno films. From there, first I was shocked, and then I became very interested. I was intrigued by these men who wear masks having sex with women, just the anonymity. That’s what lured me initially.
“Paradise Lost” Parents Are More Upset About the Oscar Nominations Than Anybody
Think you’re disappointed with the 2012 Oscar nominations? Try being the parents of a murdered child who believe one of the documentary contenders glorifies the killers of their little boy. You may recall that Todd and Dana Moore wrote a letter to the Academy last fall after Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory was included in the feature doc shortlist pleading for the film to be denied a nomination (that full letter can be found here). Against their wishes, however, the film was recognized on Tuesday morning.
That day, the Moores wrote another open letter of protest, this time joined by Stevie Branch, Sr., and Terry Hobbs, the father and stepfather, respectively, of another of the children murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, back in 1993. The four parents still believe that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley (i.e. the “West Memphis 3”) are responsible for their sons’ deaths and, according to the new three-page letter, think the latest Paradise Lost film “should be exposed as a fraud, not rewarded with an Academy Award nomination.”
Docs on DVD: “The Upsetter”; “Shut Up Little Man!”; “Sarah Palin: You Betcha!”; “Revenge of the Electric Car”; “Queen of the Sun”; “Limelight”; “Hell and Back Again”; “From the Sky Down”
This week’s new home video releases for documentary are a bounty of entertaining nonfiction films. Do you love the ’90s? If so, you’re in luck because at least three films take us on a trip to that time, exploring different topics like the New York club scene, one of the biggest bands in the world and one of the most underground cultures in America. We’ve also got films about a music legend, a political icon, a necessary part of our ecological chain and a hoped to be necessary part of our automotive industry. Here eight docs now available on DVD as of January 24, 2012:
A biographical film about the dub reggae legend from directors Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough (Bomb the System) and featuring Perry himself in a new exclusive interview. To trace the life of such a pioneer and lasting recording artist is also to chronicle the history of the music itself. A blurb in the trailer mentions that this is not just a film for reggae fans, but I don’t see why that matters. Nobody can deny the sounds of ‘Scratch’ Perry, can they? That’s impossible.
DOC Channel and AMPAS Present Restored Oscar-Winner “Interviews with My Lai Veterans”
Now that we know the 2012 Oscar nominees, we can look forward to the special episode of Documentary Channel’s “DocTalk” series featuring exclusive interviews with this year’s Academy Award contenders. The hour-long show will air on Friday, February 24, during the channel’s four-day celebration called “Weekend with Oscar.” That same night we’ll also see the U.S. television premiere of Anders Ostergaard’s 2010 Academy Award nominee Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country.
The exciting event kicks off the evening of February 23 with 1967 feature nominee Helicopter Canada, followed by other past contenders and winners. Most notable that night is a newly restored presentation of Joseph Strick’s Interviews with My Lai Veterans, which won in the documentary shorts category in 1971. DOC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have partnered for this necessary revival. Other more recent titles airing during Oscar weekend include Spellbound, War Dance and 2005 winner Born Into Brothels.
