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Sundance Film Festival · 2012

Sundance Film Festival 2012

Documentary Premieres

Created to highlight the growing impact and popularity of documentaries in our world today, Documentary Premieres presents eight moving new films about big subjects or by master filmmakers that showcase the power of the form. Each is a world premiere.

Programme

8 films · 3 reviews

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About Face: Supermodels Then And Now

Review preview for About Face: Supermodels Then And Now

Though it doesn't really go anywhere new, this film provides a solid document of a series of interesting lives, and succeeds in showing that being good looking doesn't equal being stupid or having nothing to say.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
An exploration of ageing and beauty in the company of the original supermodels.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; Stars: Carmen Dell'Orefice, Isabella Rossellini, Jerry Hall, Bethann Hardison, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Christy Turlington, Pat Cleveland, Calvin Klein) , Trailer

Full review

World premiere

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography

When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Stacy Peralta; Stars: Stacy Peralta, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill) , Official site

World premiere

The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia

While following a Dyslexic high school senior struggling to achieve his dream of getting into a competitive college, The D Word exposes myths about Dyslexia and reveals cutting edge research to elucidate this widely misunderstood condition.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: James Redford; Stars: Richard Branson, Gavin Newsom, Geralyn Lucas, Dylan Redford, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Tyler Lucas, Skye Lucas, Kyle Redford, Charles Schwab, David Boies, Allison Schwartz)

World premiere

Ethel

Review preview for Ethel

Rory Kennedy's revealing and thoughtful documentary on her mother, Ethel, is a declaration of love, rarely seen on film.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary about the director's mother, Ethel Kennedy.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Rory Kennedy; Writer: Mark Bailey)

Full review See: Rory Kennedy on Ethel

World premiere

A Fierce Green Fire

A definitive history of one of the most important movements of the 20th century, A Fierce Green Fire chronicles the environmental movement’s fascinating evolution from the 1960s to the present.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Mark Kitchell; Writer: Tom Turner) , Official site

World premiere

Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

Through conversations with Rap’s most influential artists – among them Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, MC Lyte, Mos Def, and Kanye West – Ice-T explores the roots and history of Rap and reveals the creative process behind this now dominant art form.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Ice-T, Andy Baybutt; Stars: Eminem, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Chuck D., MC Lyte)

World premiere

Under African Skies

Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he sparked for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa, designed to end Apartheid.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Joe Berlinger)

World premiere

West Of Memphis

Review preview for West Of Memphis

No fictionalised crime drama ever felt as thrilling.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 5 out of 5
A documentary team sets out to challenge the conviction of three teenagers, labelled Satanists, for the murder of three boys.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Amy Berg; Writer: Amy Berg; Stars: Damien Wayne Echols, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Miskelly, Lorris Davis, Pam Hobbs) , Official site

Full review

World premiere