Tokyo-Ga (1985), Wim Wenders’ documentary of his trip to Japan in search of the world as seen in the films of famed director Yasujirô Ozu, was described by Vincent Canby on its American premiere as a “small but important film.” Thirty years on, with greater access to Ozu’s films and the expansion of Wenders’ own…
It’s not uncommon to see a documentary made about a legendary filmmaker or author or major historical figure. It is, however, uncommon to see a documentary made about a book. Granted this book, Hitchcock/Truffaut, was written by legendary filmmaker François Truffaut and was the culmination of the…
The 3 Rivers Film Festival is one of the oldest film festivals in the U.S., currently celebrating its 34th year. The festival this year includes eight Foreign Language Oscar submissions as well as filmmaker Q & A for some of the films.
Sexual abuse is, no doubt, difficult to address as subject matter, especially in a documentary. If one presents solely firsthand accounts from victims, and nothing else, the viewer will be disturbed, but won’t feel compelled or informed. Not only that, interviewing those victims for the film would only make them relive past horrors…
As a documentary, This Changes Everything (Avi Lewis) is first and foremost intended to spread awareness. This is integral to the film’s content, which deals with environmental changes and man’s relation with nature. In its measure to spread awareness, it aims to engender in the viewer a shift in their way of thinking, which…
I remember going on school field trips to my local science museum. We would run around, messing with the exhibits, watching presentations where electricity sent our hair on end, and spending far too…
I didn’t grow up around dogs. Early on, I found out that I had quite the allergy to both dogs and cats, so my household was not one with pets. Whenever I went over to a friend’s house, I would…
It would be incredibly easy to construct a documentary about Marlon Brando that highlights his infamous hard-headedness on set, his insatiable appetite and the invaluable contribution he made to modern acting. Stevan Ridley includes these and other things in…
For those of us too young to have experienced it — or too wasted to remember — Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead gives a terrific overview of the heyday of The National Lampoon magazine and its enormous influence on film, satire and the culture overall…
Political and social tensions were high in 1968, and the Democratic and Republican conventions, slated for the dog days of summer, were expected to be hotbeds of controversy. The Democratic party was in crisis…