Documentary

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Iranian-American filmmaker Mehrnaz Saeedvafa traces her journey from growing up as young girl in Tehran to adjusting to life in America, while she reflects on how the films of Jerry Lewis spoke to her as an outsider in both countries. Peppered with clips from Lewis’ films, as well as other Hollywood classics, that have been dubbed into Farsi, this short documentary is “an invaluable cross-cultural lesson,” said esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who called Jerry and Me one of the best films of 2012.Read More »

An early example of ultra-realism, this movie contrasts the quiet, bucolic life in the outskirts of Paris with the harsh, gory conditions inside the nearby slaughterhouses. Describes the fate of the animals and that of the workers in graphic detail.
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A look at artist Mark Hicks of Manhattan Beach, California, a quadriplegic since falling out of a tree at age 14. His work is examined, along with a discussion of his being a student at UCLA, culminating with his first gallery show in San Francisco.Read More »

The poignant focal point for this film is a cherry tree that is over 1400 years old. Beginning with the tree, the director then explores the families and environment around the tree. The editing and music contribute to the sense of a haunting past contained within the solid structure of an ancient natural wonder.Read More »

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This rich documentary follows the legendary Senagalese filmmaker Sembene Ousmane from the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso back to the streets of Dakar and his Galle Ceddo home at Yoff, overlooking the sea. Revisiting several locations of his films, Sembene Ousmane reminisces about his career and discusses his craft.Read More »

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The Guitar Mongoloid
(Sweden)
By GUNNAR REHLIN
A Trianglefilm release of a Hinden/Lanna-Ateljeerna production. (International sales: Hinden/Lanna-Ateljeerna, Stockholm.) Produced, directed, written by Ruben Ostlund.

With: Erik Rutstrom, Ola Sandstig, Britt-Marie Andersson, Julia Persdotter.

One of the quirkiest Swedish films of recent memory, “The Guitar Mongoloid” has all the makings of a cult classic. Shot on a shoestring over several years, pic defies traditional norms of storytelling, making it a distant cousin to the films of iconoclast Roy Andersson (“Songs From the Second Floor”). A dark, but also humorous, depiction of a society with lonely people and sudden outbursts of violence, pic is ideal fest fare.Read More »

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Manfred Kirchheimer’s deeply humane Canners takes to the streets in an ode to the men and women who earn their daily bread by diligently collecting New York City’s bottles and cans.

He talks to them about their struggles, their families, and their dreams, never straying too far from his work’s abiding subject, survival in the city.

This lyrical documentary, along with his award-winning previous films (Stations of the Elevated (1981), We Were So Beloved (1985), Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan (2004), among many others) makes a superb addition to a body of work fifty years in the making, defined by Whitmanesque generosity and grandeur.Read More »

Louise Traon never films Manoel De Oliveira directly. Instead, she chooses to avoid him, skirt round him, skim past him and keep her distance, yet all the while drawing close to the art of cinema itself, homing in on its very essence. Her film tells the story of a girl who grew up with the images of an old gentleman, and who now wants to show her own images. This touching self-portrait gives insight into a man who appears to have lived many lives, showing his work through a remarkable link with time.Read More »

A close-up of Berlin coal carriers from Prenzlauer Berg. No portrayal of heroic workers or progress here. Instead, bright, deeply-felt sketches of rough men and their resolute female boss.Read More »