Doc Corner: China Comes Into Focus in Documentaries

by Glenn Dunks

Two weeks ago (I had to take a week off to help put on an award show!) when discussing Zhang Zanbo’s The Road, I mentioned the rise of documentaries not just by Chinese filmmakers, but about China in general. A fascinating convergence in the rise of China as a global and controversial super-power with the rise of documentary filmmaking as a populist artform. It seems appropriate then to look at a recent trio of documentaries that focus on China and that each tackle a compelling and important subject: women’s sexual rights, animal poaching, and the destruction of the Earth...

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In Case You Missed The Gothams...

vous m'aimeChris here. Did you catch the Gotham Awards last night? The ceremony is always streams online for easy access - this year on Facebook to glitchy results. It always serves a spunky start thanks to a lack of jadedness that the just beginning season will bring and the idiosyncratic results from separately juried categories.

However, this year those juries were almost unanimous in their love for Barry Jenkins's Moonlight...

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What did you see over the holidays?

How did you spend Thanksgiving weekend? I watched Moana again with the honorary nieces, saw a preview of Things to Come (yet another Isabelle Huppert triumph) with cinephile friends and caught up with a screener or two. 

What did you see over the holiday weekend? The actual box office results are after the jump...

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Interview: Director David Schurmann on How 'Little Secret' Became Brazil's Oscar Submission

Jose here. After a complicated, slightly controversial, submission process that saw several filmmakers remove their name from consideration, Brazil selected David Schurmann’s Little Secret as the film that would represent them at the 2016 Academy Awards. The real life drama is based on the life of Schurmann’s adoptive little sister, who went from anonymity to becoming one of the most notorious people in Brazil. Needless to say so this means that it takes an easy Google search to find out where the film goes and how some plot twists end (i.e. spoilers await). This is Schurmann’s first feature film, but not the first time he’s featured stories about his family in his work. The Schurmanns are famous in Brazil for their maritime adventures, as well as their books and documentaries. I spoke to David about working so close to his family, adding dramatic turns to reality and being part of the Oscar race.

So, here’s another less subtle spoiler warning before the full interview...

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Veronica Mars: Noir Hidden in Teen Angst

by Jorge Molina

The thing about noir is that, at its purest, most classic, most Maltese-Falcon-iest form, it’s a fairly recognizable genre. The character tropes are clear, the themes are evident, and the stylistic elements jump off the screen. For the most part, you know a film noir when you see one.

However, the more interesting members of the genre are those that won’t have a smoky detective office telling you that what you’re about to watch. They either subvert the learned expectations of the noir, or they hide them in original packaging...

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