Doc Corner: Chinese Rappers, Wildfires, Queer History and More in These 8 Documentary Shorts

By Glenn Dunks

Short films, whether they be documentary or fiction, are a curious form. What may work in a feature-length film may not work in a short and vice versa, and this can make critiquing them a sometimes tricky prospect. To sit down and watch one often means to set aside the sort of internal critical devices we may use for a feature-length film, typically eschewing the things we may normally look for in films.

By their very nature, we don’t get to spend enough time in their ephemeral worlds but I do not care for short films that feel like truncated version of larger stories. They don’t necessarily have to tell an entire story, but they have to feel like a completed thought, mood, or idea.

Some of the short documentaries that I have been watching have been just that, others less so.

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No More Links (Enough is Enough)

• NYT a fascinating new interview with the always odd Nicolas Cage
• Cartoon Brew an indie animated short is getting a theatrical release! Hair Love will open for Angry Birds 2 in theaters. Should we watch out for it at the Oscars?
• Variety sad news for those who love Asian cinema and follow the Golden Horse Awards (which we've often covered here at TFE)... a political storm is brewing and mainland China and Hong Kong are looking to boycott the event given Chinese feeling that Taiwan (where the ceremony always takes place) is not an independent nation but part of China. Naturally Taiwan feels otherwise (as do the American Oscars which invite Taiwan to submit their own films and don't lump them in with China itself)

More after the jump including new showbiz books, odd news concerning The Little Mermaid, a Barbra Streisand and Ariane Grande duet and more...

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D.A. Pennebaker

by Glenn Dunks

D.A. Pennebaker, aka Donn Alan, the legend of documentary who famously captured the growing counter culture music scene, American presidents and a particularly memorable Original Cast Recording, died this weekend at age 94.

Like many of his contemporaries who are today regarded as among the most influential of the form like Albert Maysles and Frederick Wiseman, Pennebaker was never really embraced by the Academy. He was nominated alongside his wife and frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus in 1994 for The War Room about the 1992 presidential campaign for Bill Clinton, but was eventually awarded an honorary statue in 2013 for his undeniably immense contribution to film...

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Sunday Shorts: Seven Must-See Gay Films

by Nathaniel R

The Armoire (2009)

We thought it time to indulge in one of our least documented movie interests: short films. This new series might become anything or nothing but we love alliteration so Sundays it is. To kick things off let's discuss queer shorts for Pride Month. Short films don't tend to last the way features can, given that it's hard to be reminded of them, culturally, and they aren't "for sale" or advertised on streaming often in the way TV shows or movies are. Short films are no longer the primary calling cards they once were for up-and-coming directors given the prevalence of TV work and DIY webseries. Now, though, shorts are often direct sales pitches for features. Consider a recent popular movie like  Brazil's The Way He Looks (2014) which was first a short film named I Don't Want To Go Back Alone (2010). The American comedy Gayby (2012) and drama Pariah (2011) also started their lives as celebrated queer films of 12 and 20 minutes respectively before their feature expansions.

But the current in-flux state of the form aside, it's worth finding cinematic gems in whatever size or form they come in. See these famous and/or underseen gems, please. And we'd LOVE to hear recommendations of other short LGBT films that caught your eye in the comments.

7 GAY SHORTS WE'VE LOVED BEFORE
(in chronological order)

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Links: Captain Chris Evans, Fan Bingbing, and Queer-free Freddy

• THR A yummy Chris Evans cover story on Trump resistance, Captain America as the key figure that allowed the MCU to flourish, and his superhero-free future. He really wants to do a musical!
• Oh So Geeky fetishisizes the good captain with millions of gifs in this piece about his arc within the MCU and Avengers Infinity War in particular. So much Chris Evans this week!
• The Guardian For its Chinese release Bohemian Rhapsody has lost three full minutes (including all queer references, any mention of AIDS, and what sounds like the loss of one entire character - Mercury's boyfriend). The movie has made almost a billion worldwide. Maybe have some respect for Mercury's legacy, Warner Bros, and just not release it in China?

More after the jump including animation lawsuits, what's next for Alex Wolff, the end of Game of Thrones, and a must-read Fan Bingbing article...

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