Part 1 of this entry can be found HERE
Living With the Tudors (Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope)
OK, I haven’t seen any of this film, but Guthrie and Pope’s first film (Bata-Ville, Rooftop Summer Series 2006) is one of the most unique, wonderful, underappreciated docs of the last 10 years, so far as I see it. I will be there at the premiere, and I enocurage all of you to be there with me to see the latest by these unique artists/filmmakers.
Natural Causes (Alex Cannon, Michael Lerman & Paul Cannon)
Festival programmer Michael Lerman teams with brothers Alex and Paul Cannon to craft this tender, realist, but well-shot story of twenty-somethings getting together, breaking up, getting together again, breaking up again…you know how it goes in your twenties.
American Teen (Nanette Burstein)
Some people love it, some people think it is a little too manipulated to really classify as a true doc, but just about everyone agrees this is one of the most entertaining non-fiction films about adolescence you will ever see. Personally, I thought that Burstein’s film plays by its own rules a bit, but nonetheless it is genuine, and an undeniably touching and candid film.
Baghead (Duplass Brothers)
If you didn’t see it at Sundance, check it out at SX! One of my favorite films from Park City, Baghead is a hilarious and unexpectedly scary slap in the face to all those who dismissed The Puffy Chair. Read Mark’s review from Sundance HERE.
Full Battle Rattle (Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss)
I caught a rough cut sneak preview at Stranger Than Fiction a few weeks back and was really impressed. Read what I wrote HERE.
Throw Down Your Heart (Sascha Paladino)
‘Throw Down Your Heart’ follows American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo and record an album. Though a straightforward musician-on-the -road doc in a lot of ways, Throw Down Your Heart is elevated to another level whenever Fleck picks up his banjo and starts to jam with the extraordinarily talented musicians he meets in Africa. Fleck is obviously a great and acclaimed musician himself, but he shows real humility as he meets these musicians and produces great songs with them merely by relaxing and trying to fit in with the band.
Rainbow Around the Sun (Kevin Ely and beau J. Leland)
This film will definitely appeal more to those who love rock musicals than it will to those who hate Hair, but Ely and Leland have produced an impressively dynamic film that does justice to the superb song-writing skills of Matthew Alvin Brown.
Woodpecker (Alex Karpovsky)
We screened Alex’s first film, The Hole Story, back in 2006, and it remains one of my favorite mock-docs (I hate that term, but what can you do?). I haven’t seen the latest cut of Woodpecker, but we saw some rough cuts along the way and even in its earlier form, Karpovsky’s film about lonely eccentric bird watchers hunting the elusive ivory billed woodpecker was funny, smart, and borderline profound. The “meaning” of the film may seem as elusive as the mysterious bird itself, but the film is emotionally resonant nonetheless, and Alex’s methodology and storytelling techniques continue to progress in this off-beat and subtle existential comedy.