42 posts tagged “documentary”

The Academy has announced the documentary short list.  Five will be nominated on February 2nd & the Oscar will

be awarded on March 7th. 

There should be a comprehensive overview soon at All These Wonderful Things

I've quickly pulled together some links to the websites & info on how you might be able to see them.

 

will be announced Jan 22 - also see AJ Schank's overview with trailers) are:

Frontline begins the fall season tonight with Cheney's Law.  It expands on last year's The Dark Side (which is online), with a focus on Cheney's push to expand executive power and many would consider the disastrous consequences.  It will be online Wednesday.  Also see the Washington Post's series on Cheney.

On many PBS stations, it will be followed the Wordplay on Independent Lens (check local listings).  Until it airs (or you watch it on DVD), you can work on this crossword puzzle.  And you can listen to Will Shortz every Sunday morning on NPR.

Last Friday, the Devil Came on Horseback opened at the Roxie (it continues through 9-13).  San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced the documentary on Darfur along with producer Jane Wells.  He stayed for the film and Q&A and asked a question about current legislation in congress on Darfur.

The film tells the story of the genocide in Darfur through the eyes of Brian Steidle who became a military observer there in 2004 after leaving the Marines.  He photographed the horrors he saw there, but later wrote that his camera was not nearly enough.  But the images he took are powerful, particularly as he tells the story in the film.



Wells says there will be a feature film based on his story, but people should see the documentary now.  I asked
her about being the field producer on a segment of the film where Steidle visits Rwanda.  She said people are still in mourning twelve years later, that what happened had an impact long after the killing stopped.

War Made Easy continues at the Roxie through at least September 14th.  Norman Solomon will introduce the film at the Rafael tonight (8-31), and it will open at the Elmwood in Berkeley on September 7th (check the website for more information on more theaters.  It is also available on DVD).



Revolution Summer which played at the San Francisco International Film Festival also opens at the Roxie tonight.  Jonathan Richman who did the score will perform.

  This is one of those weekend where it would be nice to be able to be in more than one place at a time.


  The Devil Came on Horseback, a documentary on Darfur which was sold out at the San Francisco International Film Festival, is opening in the bay area.  Friday, August 24th, Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce the 7 pm screening at the Roxie, and producer Jane Wells will do a Q&A.  She will also be at the 8:50 screening and at the 5:10 pm (Q&A) and 7:30 pm (intro) shows at the Shattuck in Berkeley on Saturday, and the 4:30 pm (Q&A) and 6:45 pm (intro) at the Rafael.   The 11th Hour


War Made Easy also opens at the Roxie.  Norman Solomon will be at the opening on Friday, August 31st at the Rafael.   I do Norman's website and have sent him an email asking if he will be at any of the Roxie screenings. There was an article in the Chronicle on how the film uses fair use.  It will expand to theaters in other cities and is available on DVD and for screenings at house parties.  More photos of the screening at the Grand Lake theater.


Thom Hartmann and Paul Hawken will be at the 7:30 pm and 10 pm shows of the environmental documentary the 11th Hour on Friday at the Embacadero.  Producer Brian Gerber will be at all shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Director Seth Gordon will speak at the 7:15 pm and 9:45 pm screenings of The King of Kong on Friday.

There will be a free screening of Made in LA on Thursday, September 6 at 7 pm at the Roxie (it will also be show on PBS on September 4th).   There will be a discussion with filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar; Guadalupe Hernandez, one of the workers featured in the film; and Katie Quan, Associate Chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center. 

 

 I first saw Ralph Arlyck's films in college, but I never saw his 1969 short film Sean (which is now online through 8-31-07).  In Following Sean which airs on most PBS stations as part of POV on Tuesday, July 31, Arlyck describes how the  film about a child living in the Haight became part of the cultural debate at the time.  I saw it at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2005.  The documentary updates Sean's story.  It is also available on DVD.

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival moves to Berkeley (til Aug 4) and Palo Alto (til Aug 2) Saturday, July 28th (today).  It will then be in San Rafael Aug 4 - 6 and there will be a special screening of the Israeli tv series, A Touch Away, Aug 4 - 5 at the JCC in San Francisco. 


This afternoon at 3 pm, following a 1:50 pm screening of Wasted at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theater, there will be a panel discusion of Israeli documentaries.  Several of the filmmakers participating including Shimon Dotan were interviewed on YourCall Radio (an MP3 is online).  Donlan's intense Hot House which won the best World Cinema Documentary award at Sundance is screening at 4:30 pm today in Palo Alto, on Sunday at 4:15 pm in Berkeley, and next Saturday, Aug 4 at 4:30 pm in San Rafael (full details are at the link)

I'll write more about some of the films, but I have posted a bunch of photos.