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New York Film Festival · 2014

New York Film Festival 2014

Spotlight On Documentary

Programme

15 films · 6 reviews

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The 50 Year Argument (The New York Review of Books: A 50 Year Argument)

A documentary on the history and influence of the New York Review of Books.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi; Stars: Timothy Garton Ash, James Baldwin, Mary Beard, Michael Chabon, Noam Chomsky, Joan Didion, Rae Hederman, Norman Mailer, Robert Silvers, Susan Sontag)

Dreams Are Colder Than Death

Meditation on what it means to be black in America in the 21st century.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Arthur Jafa; Stars: Kathleen Cleaver, Arthur Fielder Jr., Nicole Fleetwood, Saidiya Hartman, Fred Moten, Wangechi Mutu, Hortense Spillars, Kara Walker, Samuel Young)

How To Smell A Rose: A Visit With Ricky Leacock In Normandy (How to Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy)

Film about a man who found harmony between his existence and his art.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Les Blank, Gina Leibrecht; Writer: Gina Leibrecht; Stars: Richard Leacock, Valérie Lalonde)

Iris

Review preview for Iris

What emerges as so extraordinary about the way Iris presents herself, and what makes her so beloved by many people in the fashion industry, is the total freedom of reference she enjoys in anyone.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Portrait of fashion and interior-design expert Iris Apfel.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Albert Maysles)

Full review See: Albert Maysles' Iris brings out Fashion World , Robert Gordon in conversation on Best Of Enemies , Albert Maysles obituary

World premiere

The Iron Ministry

Review preview for The Iron Ministry

The Iron Ministry moves beyond the observational to the experiential, which is to say that sound and image come together to put us among the passengers rather than simply watching them from a distance.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A portrait of China, experienced through its vast and expanding railway.

(Country: China, US; Year: 2014; Director: J P Sniadecki)

Full review

The Look Of Silence

Review preview for The Look Of Silence

Oppenheimer boils down the atrocity to the experience of a single family, leaving us to extrapolate back up.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Consideration of Indonesian genocide.

(Country: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Indonesia, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Joshua Oppenheimer)

Full review

Merchants Of Doubt

Documentary puts spin doctors in the spotlight.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Robert Kenner)

National Gallery

Review preview for National Gallery

What comes through is a sense of the vast number of tasks the museum must carry out to cover its remit as a public service.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A documentary exploring the National Gallery in London.

(Country: France, USA, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Frederick Wiseman)

Full review

US premiere

Non-Fiction Diary

What do savage serial killings have to do with the collapse of both a department store and a busy road bridge in Seoul?

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2013; Director: Jung Yoon-suk ; Writer: Jung Yoon-suk ; Stars: Ko Byung-chun, Kim Hyung-tae, Park Sang-gu, Jo Sung-ae, Oh Hu-geun, Oh Young-rok, Jung Hyung-bok, Han Wan-sang )

US premiere

One Cut, One Life

Consideration of the documentarian's own terminal illness.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Ed Pincus, Lucia Small; Writer: Ed Pincus, Lucia Small, Lucia Small; Stars: Angus, Kim Dittus, Paul Giamatti, Robert Hamill, Louie, Turner Osler, David Ospina, Benjamin Pincus, Ed Pincus, Jane Pincus, Ruth Sami Pincus, Lucia Small, Robert Soiffer, David Steensma)

Red Army

The story of Russia's Red Army hockey team.

(Country: US, Russia; Year: 2014; Director: Gabe Polsky; Writer: Gabe Polsky; Stars: Mark Deakins, Anatoli Karpov, Vyacheslav Fetisov)

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait (Ma'a al-Fidda, Eau Argentee)

A portrait of Syria.

(Country: Syria; Year: 2014; Director: Mohammed Ossama; Writer: Wiam Bedirxan, Mohammed Ossama)

US premiere

Stray Dog

Review preview for Stray Dog

Stray Dog is really a very ordinary guy, but there's one thing that's extraordinary about him... he truly believes in America.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Portrait of American war vet and biker Ronnie ‘Stray Dog’ Hall.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Debra Granik; Writer: Debra Granik; Stars: Ronnie Hall)

Full review

Sunshine Superman

Review preview for Sunshine Superman

What is most astonishing about Sunshine Superman is how genuinely happy everybody looks.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Portrait of the father of Base jumping Carl Boenish.

(Country: US, Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Marah Strauch; Writer: Eric Bruggemann, Marah Strauch; Stars: Marah Strauch, Cecilie Bull, John Long, Eric Bruggemann, Ellen Houlihan, Jake Suffian, Jared Simmons, Eric Mofford, Carl Boenish, Jean Boenish, Lars Løge, Allison McCulloch, Kevin McGuinness, Christian Bruno, Selia Hansen)

Full review See: Marah Strauch in conversation on Sunshine Superman

US premiere