Doc Corner: S&M Lesbians, Oscar Winners and Queer Theater — classic restorations of 2020

By Glenn Dunks

We tend to focus on new release documentaries around here, covering the gamut of titles premiering in cinemas, on streaming and VOD, and occasionally—as you’ll see over the next few week—festivals. What I rarely have the pleasure of doing is review classic docs, which is probably rather silly since the boom in popularity for the form has meant distributors and exhibitors are getting more confident in not just re-releasing classics documentaries, but restoring them, too.

As I found when researching my top 100 docs of the decade list, even titles from as few as four or five years ago become increasingly hard to find. And if they never received a US release? Even harder. Hopefully that starts to change and all the more reason to celebrate when older works do appear. So, to celebrate the Film Society at Lincoln Centre’s season of films by gay icons Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (until November 5, so get on it!) I wanted to highlight some of the absolute rippers that have come along lately.

There’s everything from S&M lesbians, American cross-country road trips, nuclear bombs, and one Chantal Akerman masterpiece...

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Abe’s NewFest Wrap

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Saltanat Nauruz stars in "Welcome to the USA"

There are so many film festivals going on right now, and I’m very glad that I was able to screen so many selections from NewFest. I had the chance to watch fifteen films from the  32nd edition of the New York LGBTQ Film Festival, which took place online this year, representing more than a third of the feature slate. I had already seen Uncle Frank at Sundance, and I would definitely recommend that Alan Ball film, which comes to Amazon Prime on November 25th.

Here are NewFest’s jury prize winners for this year... 

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The Furniture: Finding the Fear in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber. (Click on the images for magnified detail)

Watching The Picture of Dorian Gray as a horror film in this, its 75th anniversary year, is a bit of a puzzle. It’s almost unrecognizable within the genre, though director Albert Lewin does treat the revelation of the deformed painting itself as something of a jump scare. But the overall vibe is more akin to a period drama or a film noir than anything we would consider spooky today.

That is, until you think about it a little more closely.

 The Picture of Dorian Gray is an atmospheric horror film about things that don’t necessarily scare us nearly as much anymore: arrogance, beauty and the simple fact of sexuality. In this way it does actually resemble the great horror films of its time, monster movies that make much out of giant laboratories and cavernous castles, unnerving the audience through the use of production design. Dorian Gray’s home is of a piece with Dracula’s castle and the Mummy’s tomb...

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Interview: Garrett Bradley, Fox and Rob Rich on their award-winning documentary "Time"

by Murtada Elfadl 

Fox and Rob Rich in a shot from the film

This year’s documentary sensation is Time, now streaming on Amazon Prime, a film that announces the arrival of Garrett Bradley as an accomplished filmmaker. Telling the decades spanning story of Fox Rich, an entrepreneur and abolitionist who spent almost 20 years fighting for the release of her husband Rob Rich out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola. He has been given a 60 year sentence for a robbery they both committed in a moment of desperation. Talk about punishment that doesn’t fit the crime.

The film’s 2020 journey of accolades started at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where Bradley won the Best Director award in the Documentary feature competition. Since then it has played the Toronto and New York film festivals and is now available to screen on Amazon. And it is absolutely my favorite film of 2020.

The film is a mix of Fox’s video diaries that she recorded over the years with insight into the last couple of years of her family’s story shot by Bradley. That was not the original concept. After ending the shoot Fox gave Bradley a treasure of archival footage that she had shot through the years. Bradley changed direction and incorporated Fox’s footage. Recently I had the chance to speak to the Riches and Bradley over zoom and I started the conversation at this juncture asking Fox why she gave Bradley her video diaries.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity... 

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Introducing the Smackdown Panel for '87

Are you ready for the season finale of this massive Supporting Actress Smackdown season? We're closing with 1987 on Thursday, November 19th and your votes count. 

Let's meet your fellow panelists, shall we?

PLEASE WELCOME...   

ATO ESSANDOH
Ato Essandoh is an actor. He plays Dr Kwesi Weisberg-Abban on Netflix’s astronaut drama Away... 

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