Putin’s Kiss (2011 documentary) Lise Birk Pedersen focuses on Masha Drokova to reveal, though interviews over time, the way idealism in a young Russian patriot shapes her mind and world views. Complex in its revelations about Valdimir Putin’s creation of Nashi, the Russian Youth Organization to which Drokova belongs and for which she becomes a … More Putin’s Kiss (2011 doc)
Voyage of Time (2016 doc) This short version of Terence Malick’s IMAX New Age sermon uses exquisite visual collage in support of his celebration of human nature in a cosmic universe, where the microscopic and the macroscopic intertwine through loving grace. However much I cherish the child within, science tells a different story, and whatever … More Voyage of Time (2016 doc)
Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014) Stephen C. Schafer documented the American poet W. S. Merwin, who took his family inheritance, bought land on Maui, and spent his last decade struggling to recultivate the plants that had been devastated. A great political and environmental activist, Merwin was an authentic troubadour poet, existing outside the … More Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014)
Honeyland (2019) The risk with any documentary is that no one ever knows what story will emerge. It took real fortitude for directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov to make the journey to this remote village of Bekirlija, in Macedonia. There they discovered Hatidže Muratova, an elderly beekeeper, and spent three years exploring her life … More Honeyland (2019)
Paris Is Burning (1991) Back in the day of high fashion and no social distancing, Jennie Livingston documented the New York Ball culture of the 1980’s gay community who introduced voguing to Madonna. More than that, however, interviews with contestants reveal the artificiality of gender roles, the rampant homophobia and intolerant violence, and the “houses” … More Paris Is Burning (1991)
Best in Show (2000) Christopher Guest’s mocumentary about pretentious dog shows nevertheless becomes tender-hearted toward owners for whom a dog is a prize companion that everyone should adore. Five dogs and their comedians were encouraged to improvise dialogue: Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara with their Norwich Terrier Winky; Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock with their … More Best in Show (2000)
Harlan County, U. S. A. (1976) Nowhere is the power of the documentary to speak truth to power and change lives more evident than in this masterpiece directed by Barbara Kopple. The fact that she could have been shot dead in the process speaks volumes for her commitment to the cause of justice. The true … More Harlan County, U. S. A. (1976)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929 silent) Directed by Dziga Vertov and edited by his wife Elizaveta Svilova, this picture has often been used by film classes to teach the techniques for making movies. This documentary follows Soviet citizens, from dawn to dusk, in the cities of Kiev, Moscow, Kharkov, and Odessa. Without use of … More Man with a Movie Camera (1929 silent)
Witness: The Ecological Poetry of W.S. Merwin (2017) A documentary film by Larry Cameron and John Carpenter. This is one of the best extended interviews with W. S. Merwin at the end of his life. What can be said about a poet who achieved a full life, who died in the place where he chose … More Witness: The Ecological Poetry of W.S. Merwin
Faces/Places [Villages Visages] (2017) Documentary filmmaker Agnès Varda joins forces with instillation photographer J. R. on a road trip across France, visiting coal mines, stockyards, factories, farms, and enlarging photographic images of the people who live and work there, to plaster across buildings, silos, train cars, crates, etc. The impermanence of art is J. R.’ … More Faces/Places
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