Doc Corner: 'Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down'

By Glenn Dunks

We’ve been here before with the filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen. The prolific documenters (four film in five years) have carved a niche as directors of biographical explorations of people who staked a claim for themselves in annals of history through sheer dogged determination: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Oscar-nominated RBG), activist and non-binary pioneer Pauli Murray (I Am Pauli Murray), and celebrity chef Julia Child (Julia).

Their latest is a much more contemporary figure, yet one who represents the directing pair’s most cherished traits. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down isn’t the most exciting film, but it is an emotionally affecting one...

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Doc Corner: Sundance Winner 'Fire of Love'

By Glenn Dunks

There are three big reasons to see Fire of Love, preferably on the big screen if possible. The third I will get to later, but the first is the story. That of a couple who found themselves through the admittedly rather niche field of volcanology. There’s is one of mutual respect and adoration that I admired also for how much faith they granted the public to understand their world. You certainly don’t see that every day.

The second is the archive footage that makes up the entirety of its runtime. It’s a beauty and a truly wonderous, jaw-dropping visual spectacle.

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Doc Corner: Rebecca Huntt’s 'Beba'

By Glenn Dunks

That Beba is the work of a first-time filmmaker is both immediately impressive and also quickly apparent. There’s a maturity here that belies Rebecca Huntt’s autobiographical documentary portrait. It’s something that leaps out from its opening moments as flickering 16mm photography plays over poignant narration. “Violence is in my D.N.A.”, she says. “I carry an ancient pain that I struggle to understand.” It’s powerful stuff, but as it progresses, Huntt’s film finds itself swaying in the wind despite the really great stuff at its core.

That maturity is often balanced by selfishness that renders itself with a film that is unfocused almost as if by design. Huntt is a messy, complicated person; something that this movie impresses upon the viewer frequently. Whether it’s as a result of her family or society—most likely a strong dash of both—is something that the movie attempts to grapple with.

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Tribeca: The A.I. doc "Sophia" is more human than well you know

by Jason Adams

If you're into egregious public humiliations (and who isn't) then has Sophia has got a doozy for you. Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle's new documentary about the inventor David Hanson and his quest to perfect "the most realistic humanoid robot" has a scene so cringe that I nearly crawled right out of my own humanoid skin suit and called it a day. It's obviously a testament to the filmmakers skill that I found myself so emotionally invested in this verité science doc when it's basically just a portrait of how the sausage gets made. The "sausage" in question is a twitchy real-doll with feelings named Sophia... 

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Doc Corner: The Cowgirls of 'Bitterbrush'

By Glenn Dunks

Emelie Mahdavian’s first documentary feature was set in Tajikstan. The remote mountains of Idaho in the American west may seem like something of a remarkable jump, but it’s really not one at all. Topographically speaking, the two are quite similar. Certainly more so than Idaho and at least half of the rest of the US. That Mahdavian was so easily able to embed herself into the world of Bitterbrush shouldn’t surprise, then.

This is a quiet film, a film about loneliness and struggle and about the physical toll of a genuine hard day’s work. Unlike something like Buck or the more thematically similar Sweetgrass, that its two subjects are women lends Bitterbrush a unique entry-way into its world that brings with it a lot of connotations even before its opening shot...

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