Doc Corner: Robert Greene's 'Procession'

By Glenn Dunks

It’s become somewhat predictable that a new Robert Greene will challenge an audience as much as it enthrals. He doesn’t exactly pick the most digestible of subject matter, but the way he comes at them is always so interesting and refreshingly unique that it becomes more than just a dour excursion into humanity’s darkest corners. While some may question his tactics, often interpolating traditional non-fiction form with performance and scripted drama, there is nonetheless a quality to his works that poke and prod at the most sensitive parts of a viewer’s brain.

His latest, the Netflix-distributed Catholic Church abuse drama Procession is no different. More so, it’s the best documentary of the year.

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Doc Corner: Denmark's Oscar Submission 'Flee' + 'We Are Russia' at DOC NYC

By Glenn Dunks

DOC NYC continues. The festival runs for in-person screenings from November 10–18 and then will carry over online until November 28. I have a Twitter thread covering what I am watching, but today we're looking at a big Oscar contender alongside a smaller, but no less worthy doc from the same part of the world.

I find it can often take a minute to get used to animated documentaries. I find the hand-crafted nature of the medium to be a bit of a barrier to the telling of these true-to-life stories. A barrier that my brain initially can’t quite comprehend when I am so used to the traditional elements—not too unlike adjusting to 3D or VR, maybe.

It’s true that animation has become more and more common in documentary, particularly as a means of representing moments of history that couldn’t have been captured on film. I sometimes wish they wouldn’t bother as the quality can often vary wildly. But like other documentaries made from a majority of animation (Keith Maitland’s Tower and Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir come to mind), the much buzzed Flee quickly surpasses those up-front mental blocks. Here, the vivid, colourful animation brings out an even deeper well of emotion from émigré Amin Nawabi’s story in the same way blue eyes can bring out the colour of an item of clothing.

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Doc Corner: 'Listening to Kenny G' and 'Jagged' at DOC NYC

By Glenn Dunks

DOC NYC starts today. The festival runs for in-person screenings from November 10–18 and then continues online until November 28. I have a Twitter thread covering what I am watching, but here we are looking at two music docs about artists from very different ends of the spectrum: Kenny G and Alanis Morissette.

Trust director Penny Lane to make a biographic documentary about a musician and have it not be the same old same old. The American filmmaker has been on a tear lately with Nuts! (about goat testicle charlatans), The Pain of Others (about Morgellons disease), and Hail Satan! (about the Satanic Temple). This run continues with the wittily assembled Listening to Kenny G, which plays today as the opening night film of DOC NYC.

Lane’s film isn’t the standard musician bio-doc, although it does chart his career from the early days discovering music in school and does make a spotlight out of his career highs and lows. What makes Listening to Kenny G so invigorating of a watch is because of the greater story within which this narrative is placed. One that interrogates the controversial anti-populous appeal of the multi-instrumentalist’s smooth jazz stylings from all angles.

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Review: Mayor Pete

By Abe Friedtanzer

Politics have become so divisive these days that campaigns are often based more on what a candidate is not rather than what they are. It’s refreshing, therefore, to see a politician whose identity is integral to their desire to achieve a certain office. This documentary’s title indicates the informality and folksiness attributed to its protagonist, a man who may actually be one of the most put-together, presentable people in the political world today. That would be Pete Buttigieg, the extremely likeable and publicly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana who made a run for the presidency in 2020…

Being gay is not the only aspect of who Pete is, but it is a big part of it and one that broke new ground when he shared the debate stage with other Democratic presidential candidates...

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Doc Corner: 'Attica'

By Glenn Dunks

“Attica! Attica!”

The memory of the Attica Correctional Facility revolt has lingered throughout pop culture. Whether it was on the periphery of Best Picture nominee Dog Day Afternoon, inspiring a season-long story arc on Orange is the New Black, or as the direct subject of literature like Heather Ann Thompson’s acclaimed Blood in the Water, and in movies across cinema and TV. For our purposes, there have already been several documentaries about it, perhaps most notably Cinda Firestone’s 1974 doc Attica and Brad Lichtenstein’s Ghosts of Attica from 2001.

If you have seen all of these then it may feel like there isn’t much to say on the subject that dates back to September 9–13, 1971. And having only watched Firestone’s incredible and matter-of-fact feature some time last year (while unaware of a new titles being in the works), I did certainly remember many of this sorry saga’s painful and tragic moments. However, director Stanley Nelson and co-director Traci Curry have their own wealth of story to tell that makes for frequently fascinating storytelling...

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