Category: documentaries

Official lineup for the 10th annual Key West Film Festival

Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘C’MON, C’MON’ will have its Florida premiere at this week’s Key West Film Festival. Photo: A24, used with permission.

The 10th Annual Key West Film Festival announces its official 2021 lineup including major falls films from Jane Campion, Sean Baker, Mike Mills, Pedro Almodovar, and Paolo Sorrentino. More than 75 films will be part of the five day festival, which runs November 17-21 and celebrates its 10th Anniversary. A full lineup of the festival is available online. (Key West Film Festival, 2021)

The star studded spotlight films will be joined by the previously announced RED ROCKET (A24), whose director, Sean Baker, will be honored with the prestigious Golden Key Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, along with JOCKEY (Sony Pictures Classics), starring Clifton Collins Jr, which will also see its director, Clint Bentley, honored with the inaugural Golden Key for Breakthrough Florida Filmmaker.

As previously announced, BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD, will open the festival on November 17 at an outdoor screening under the stars at the Key West Amphitheater. The short film BLONDIE: VIVIR EN HABANA, about the celebrated artist’s recent concert in Cuba, will precede the film.

This year’s LGBTQ films, programmed with the assistance of Eugene Hernandez, Director of the New York Film Festival, and Brian Brooks of Cinetic Media, include GREAT FREEDOM, winner of the Jury Prize for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, the Cold War forbidden love story FIREBIRD, and BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY, chronicling the love triangle that resulted from Gloria Swanson’s attempts to adapt “Sunset Boulevard” into a musical and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, which marks his fourth film to play at the festival (I am Divine, Tab Hunter Confidential, The Fabulous Alan Carr).

Documentaries take center stage at the festival this year, with each film featuring a live appearance or event. Award-winning director Penny Lane (Our Nixon, Nuts!, Hail Satan!) will appear with her newest film, LISTENING TO KENNY G; multiple Gotham Award and Cinema Eye Award nominee Douglas Tirola comes to town with his Leonard Bernstein film, BERNSTEIN’S WALL; Danielle Kummer will cross the pond to appear with ALIEN ON STAGE, about a small town musical of the sci fi classic Alien, and KWFF will host a special wine tasting after the screening of BLIND AMBITION, which follows Zimbabwe’s first team to compete in the international wine tasting tournament.

International films include Academy Award-winner Paolo Sorrentino’s HAND OF GOD and FINAL SET, starring Kristin Scott Thomas.

KWFF 2021 will host additional outdoor events at the Lawn at The Perry Hotel, where a special sing-along edition of the 20th Anniversary of the 2001 film MOULIN ROUGE will be screened along with Eric Clapton’s latest concert film, ERIC CLAPTON: THE LADY IN THE BALCONY. The Perry will also screen a collection of boundary pushing short films prior to a Welcome Party for visiting filmmakers and VIPs on Thursday, November 18.

Florida gets its moment in the sun with an all-day Florida Focus on Sunday, November 21. A collection of award-winning shorts from Key West High School’s Conch 5 Studios – who recently sent NINE films to the National High School Student Film Awards – will be screened in the morning, followed by the 15thanniversary screening of Florida Filmmaking legend Billy Corben’s COCAINE COWBOYS. Corben will participate in a discussion following the screening. The award winning Miami-produced feature LUDI will also screen at the festival.

The festival shines on an Alumni spotlight on Nell Teare’s BOLIVAR. This is her first feature after having won numerous awards for her short films at the festival.

The shorts programs and Florida feature films were curated from over 1000 submissions, with entries from nearly all 50 states and dozens of countries.

Returning programs this year include the 7th annual Critics Panel, in which top film critics will join both in person and virtually by Zoom to cover the seismic changes in the industry this year; the sixth annual Golden Key for Excellence in Costume Design awarded to Paul Tazewell for his work in WEST SIDE STORY, making KWFF the only such festival to annual honor this art; Kibbitz with Critics series, in which the curating critic shares one of their favorite films from the last year over brunch. Aguilar will present the charming immigration story LIMBO; and the presentation of the prestigious Critics Prize, given each year to one film across the program as decided upon by participating critics. Past critics have included Kenneth Turan, Jen Yamato and Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times, Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post, Eric Kohn of Indiewire, Emily Yoshida of New York Magazine, David Fear of Rolling Stone, Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York, and Amy Nicholson of KPCC-LA’s Film Week.

Photo: Key West Film Festival, used with permission.
2021-11-17T13:20:00

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Key West Film Festival

Feature documentary Young Plato to have world premiere at DOC NYC 2021

Young Plato will premiere at this year’s DOC NYC. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

An inspiring documentary from the filmmakers of School Life, Young Plato charts the dream of Elvis-loving school headmaster Kevin McArevey – a maverick who is determined to change the fortunes of an inner-city community plagued by urban decay, sectarian aggression, poverty, and drugs. The all-boys primary school in post-conflict Belfast, Northern Ireland, becomes a hot house for questioning violence, as the headmaster sends his young wards home each day armed with the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers. The boys challenge their parents and neighbors to forsake the prejudice that has kept this low-level civil war on the boil for decades. Young Plato hums with the confidence of youth, a tribute to the power of the possible. (Young Plato, 2021)

Young Plato (Section: International Competition)
World Premiere
Directors: Neasa Ní Chianáín and Declan McGrath
Producer: David Rane
Running time: 102 Minutes
Language: English Country: Ireland (Feature Documentary)

Public screenings of Young Plato at DOC NYC 2021
Sunday, November 14 at 4:05p.m.
Location: Cinepolis Chelsea

Monday, November 15 at 1:15p.m.
Location: Cinepolis Chelsea

Tickets available online.

Neasa Ní Chianáín (Director) is one of Ireland’s most established documentary talents. She has directed nine documentaries (four feature length) and one TV series. Recent films include the award-winning Frank Ned & Busy Lizzie, Fairytale of Kathmandu, and The Stranger, which screened at the 67th Locarno Film Festival. Neasa is currently in post-production on a new feature documentary, ‘The Alexander Complex’ and has recently completed ‘Young Plato’ which will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC 2021.

Her last film, ‘In Loco Parentis’ (aka ‘School Life’), has been a world-wide success, premiering in competition at both IDFA 2016 and Sundance 2017. ‘School Life’ won the Special Jury Prize in the Golden Gate Awards at the San Francisco Film Festival, and an Audience Award (Prix du Public) at Visions du Réel in Nyon. Neasa was also chosen to take part in the Sydney Film Festival’s ‘Europe! Voices of Women in Film,’ which selected 10 of Europe’s most promising women directors.

Declan McGrath (Director) is a filmmaker whose recent credits include the award-winning ‘Lomax in Éirinn ‘ (TG4) and ‘Mary McAleese & The Man Who Saved Europe ‘(RTE, BBC). He has written two books on the craft of filmmaking (Screencraft: ‘Editing & Post Productions’ and Screencraft: ‘Scriptwriting’), both translated into five languages. He is also a regular contributor to the New York film journal, Cineaste. Declan also directed the TV series ‘Seinn Liom’ and ‘Cad É An Scéal’ (BBC) and has worked as an editor for over twenty-five years, cutting numerous award-winning dramas and documentaries.

His credits as a director include the acclaimed: ‘Lomax in Éirinn,’ which screened at festivals worldwide, ‘My Struggle For Life,’ ‘Tír Eoghain: The Unbreakable Bond,’ ‘Mary McAleese & The Man Who Saved Europe’ and ‘Women Of The Oireachtas.’ His most recent film ‘Young Plato’ will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC 2021.

His credits as a producer include: ‘The Occupation,’ which was nominated for the New York Festivals Film and TV Awards in 2018.

Documentary film River’s End to be released on Video On Demand

River’s End will be released on Video On Demand on November 2, 2021. Photo: Giant Pictures, used with permission.

River’s End explores the global water crisis, using California as a microcosm. It reveals how water politics that led to the draining of the Owens Valley by Los Angeles, made famous by the film Chinatown, continue to this day in ongoing efforts to take ever more water from Northern California’s San Francisco Bay estuary. Except this time, the water grab is at the hands of industrial agriculture and its powerful corporate investors. River’s End inspires viewers to learn where their water comes from so that we can save our rivers and the ecosystems and communities that depend upon them. (River’s End, 2021)

River’s End is a feature documentary film by Jacob Morrison. It will be released on Video On Demand in the United States, Canada, and the UK on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Run time: 81 minutes (USA)

VOD Platforms: Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu (US, Canada, UK)

Cable Platforms: InDemand TVOD (Comcast, Spectrum, Cox), DirectTV/AT&T and more (US)

JACOB MORRISON- WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
Jacob Morrison is a filmmaker releasing his feature directorial debut, River’s End. Morrison has produced series for Viceland and Fullscreen, wrote and starred in a multi-episode explainer series for Vice, and directed a half-hour television pilot. He is a graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and a native of Southern California.

Giant Pictures is a leading digital distributor that is committed to empowering filmmakers to own their distribution. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, we work directly with rights owners to distribute movies and TV shows to VOD and streaming platforms in North America and worldwide. Our content partners range from first-time filmmakers to award-winning independent producers, as well as notable studios Alamo Drafthouse Films, Abramorama Selects, Participant, Tribeca Enterprises, Utopia Distribution, and XYZ Films. A division of Giant Interactive, the award-winning digital media and technology services company, we distribute across 45+ platforms, including AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Tubi, and Peacock. 

2021-11-02T12:55:00

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Documentaries to watch on National Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond

A Class Apart is an outstanding documentary that should be on everyone’s to-watch list. Photo: amazon

As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), I want to bring attention to how little we know of our history as Mexican-Americans. Even though nowadays more of us are getting an education, little is known about the struggles that those who came before us had to endure. We take for granted how far we have come but are unaware of how difficult it used to be to even finish elementary school. Having Mexican-American studies in school would be a step up but for now, there are two documentaries that I highly recommend: Stolen Education and A Class Apart. Both are a little over an hour long and are available on Amazon. Do yourself and your children a favor and watch these documentaries and learn all you can about our history as Mexican-Americans and the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement.

Last Thursday I attended a virtual screening of Stolen Education. Hosted by the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute, it documents the untold story of Mexican-American school children who challenged discrimination in Texas schools in the 1950s and changed the face of education in the Southwest. It was amazing how most of those in attendance had never heard of this case or the circumstance surrounding it; mostly because it is a subject seldom discussed. This legal case was after the one featured on A Class Apart, which ended segregation in South Texas. I watched A Class Apart on Amazon last month. What stunned me after watching both documentaries is that this happened in our own backyard and few people are aware of it. See below for a full description of both documentaries.

Stolen Education: As a 9 year-old second grader, Lupe had been forced to remain in the first grade for three years, not because of her academic performance but because she was Mexican American. She was one of eight young students who testified in a federal court case in 1956 to end the discriminatory practice (Hernandez et al. v. Driscoll Consolidated Independent School District), one of the first post-Brown desegregation court cases to be litigated. Degraded for speaking Spanish and dissuaded from achieving academically, Mexican American students were relegated to a “beginner,” “low,” and then “high” first grade – a practice that was common across the Southwest. School officials argued in the case that this practice was necessary because the “retardation of Latin children” would adversely impact the education of White children.

The film portrays the courage of these young people, testifying in an era when fear and intimidation were used to maintain racial hierarchy and control. The students won the case, but for almost sixty years the case was never spoken about in the farming community where they lived despite its significance. Stolen Education presents the full story and impact for the first time, featuring the personal accounts of most of those who were at the center of the court case. The film documents not only an important moment in Mexican American history, but also provides important context to understand our current educational system’s enduring legacy of segregation, discrimination and racism. (Video Project, 2021)

A Class Apart – A Class Apart is a new documentary by award-winning filmmakers Carlos Sandoval (Farmingville) and Peter Miller (Sacco and Vanzetti, Passin’ It On). The first major film to bring to life the heroic post-World War II struggles of Mexican Americans against the Jim Crow-style discrimination targeted against them, A Class Apart is built around the landmark 1951 legal case Hernandez v. Texas, in which an underdog band of Mexican Americans from Texas bring a case all the way to the Supreme Court – and win.

The film begins with a murder in a gritty small-town cantina and follows the legal journey of the Hernandez lawyers through the Texas courts and ultimately to the United States Supreme Court. We see them forge a daring legal strategy that called their own racial identities into question by arguing that Mexican Americans were “a class apart” who did not neatly fit into a legal structure that only recognized blacks and whites.

A grassroots national movement supports the legal efforts, with tiny contributions sent by Latinos from around the country paying for the Hernandez case to go forward. The film dramatically interweaves the story of its central characters – activists and lawyers, returning veterans and ordinary citizens, murderer and victim – within the broader history of Latinos in America during a time of extraordinary change. (Camino Bluff Productions, 2021)

Sign often seen in South Texas in the 50s and 60s. My 82 year old father clearly remembers it.