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DOC NYC — A–Z of films

2022

  • 0

  • 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture
    Review preview for 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture

    This isn’t a plea for people to swap one source of authority for another. The focus is on encouraging us to think for ourselves.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    The mystery of how theology, history, culture, and politics led to a Biblical mistranslation, the man who tried to stop it, and the impassioned academic crusade of the LGBTQIA+ Christian community driven to discover the truth.
  • Aftershock
    Review preview for Aftershock

    While all of the statistics - and Eiselt and Lee ensure they keep on coming - are brutal, the positive energy of activism is at the heart of this documentary.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Following the preventable deaths of their partners due to childbirth complications, two bereaved fathers galvanise activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.
  • All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
    Review preview for All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

    The intimacies are staggering.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    The story of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty often blamed for the US opioid epidemic.
  • Casa Susanna
    Review preview for Casa Susanna

    By shining a light on the past, Lifshitz lights a beacon for people who feel outcast in today's world.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    In the Fifties and Sixties, deep in the American countryside at the foot of the Catskills, a small wooden house with a barn behind it was home to the first clandestine network of cross-dressers.

  • D

  • Fire Of Love
    Review preview for Fire Of Love

    The force of nature comes to stunning, searing life thanks to the Kraffts' footage, whether it is rivers of magma or gouts of smoke, with the film gradually building the case that they knew exactly the impact of what they were committing to camera would be.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
    Intrepid scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded. A doomed love triangle between Katia, Maurice and volcanoes, told through their archival footage.
  • The Hermit Of Treig
    Review preview for The Hermit Of Treig

    MacKenzie scores her film with traditional highland melodies, but often there is nothing to be heard beyond nature’s soundscape, wind over water and through trees.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    After 40 years of solitude, a spirited elderly hermit opens up his life to young director as he tackles ill health, a declining memory, and questions as to whether or not he can live out his last years in the wilderness he calls home.
  • A House Made Of Splinters
    Review preview for A House Made Of Splinters

    There’s a rare intimacy about it.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    In eastern Ukraine, follow the daily life of children and staff in a special kind of home: an institution for children who have been removed from their homes while awaiting court custody decisions. Staff do their best to make the time children have there safe and supportive.

  • I

  • I'm People, I Am Nobody
    Review preview for I'm People, I Am Nobody

    Dragomirovic’s minimalistic setting captures the separation and struggle of Stevan and his loved ones.

    Stephanie Brown · 4 out of 5
    Documentary about Stevan, a 60-year-old, former porn performer from Serbia, who is awaiting the outcome of a Kafkaesque trial process in a Maltese prison.
  • Ithaka
    Review preview for Ithaka

    Lawrence knows his film’s real strength lies in simply putting the man and his relatives fully back into the heart of this equation.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Julian Assange’s wife and father battle the British establishment on behalf of the WikiLeaks founder, who faces a 175-year prison sentence if extradited to the US.
  • I Didn't See You There
    Review preview for I Didn't See You There

    An important film.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent that goes up outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into a meditative journey exploring the history of freakdom, vision, and (in)visibility.

  • M

  • Moonage Daydream
    Review preview for Moonage Daydream

    In this kaleidoscope life, montage becomes an essential tool, illustrating not only the artist’s own work but his many influences, along with the immediate context in which he was living.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Documentary featuring a wealth of David Bowie archive.
  • Navalny
    Review preview for Navalny

    And so we get a very engaging, often suspenseful movie in Navalny, a record of the dangers that come with pissing off an authoritarian regime.

    Jeremy Mathews · 3.5 out of 5
    Profile of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the wake of survival of an assassination attempt.
  • The Panola Project
    Review preview for The Panola Project

    The directors also capture the day of the inoculations, which is likely to serve a secondary purpose to jab-hesitant viewers, since it shows people receiving the vaccine in minutes with no ill-effects.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Profile of Dorothy Oliver and her tireless work to get residents of the town of Panola vaccinated against Covid.
  • Queen Of The Deuce
    Review preview for Queen Of The Deuce

    In piecing the whole thing together, Kontakos appears to have been spoiled for choices, but she delivers a strong narrative which never gets overwhelmed by its content.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Profile of Chelly Wilson, a Christmas-celebrating Jewish grandma, a lesbian who married men, and a proud owner of porn cinemas in 1970s NYC.

  • R

  • Riotsville, USA
    Review preview for Riotsville, USA

    While Pettengill is fascinated by the archival content, she’s also not afraid to experiment with form, including digital distortions that identify the movie as a product of the present.

    Jeremy Mathews · 3 out of 5
    Welcome to Riotsville, a fictional town built by the US military. Using footage shot by the media and government, the film explores the militarisation of the police and the reaction of a nation to the uprisings of the late Sixties, creating a counter-narrative to a critical moment in American history.

  • V

  • Villeneuve Pironi
    Review preview for Villeneuve Pironi

    What is clear is the genuine affection held for its subjects, but that makes some elements of it all the more galling.

    Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
    Consideration of the infamous 1982 F1 season when rival teammates Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi were part of the sport's most controversial moments.
  • While We Watched
    Review preview for While We Watched

    In addition to attacks from the outside, Shukla shows the erosion from within.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A turbulent newsroom drama which intimately chronicles the working days of broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiralling world of truth and disinformation.