Docs in Focus IV—American Folklore
May: Docs in Focus IV, FLMTQ Releases 291-311
During the month of May Filmatique presents its first expanded documentary series—twenty contemporary nonfiction films. Topical strands range in theme from dictatorship and corruption in the post-Soviet world to explorations of spirit and devotion from such celebrated filmmakers as Ulrich Seidl and Gianfranco Rosi.
The first installation of Docs in Focus IV zeroes in on peripheral existence in present-day America. David Mueller and Lynn Salt's A Good Day to Die examines the genesis of the American Indian Movement and the generational, human cost of our nation's original sin. Alex Mar's American Mystic offers a triptych portrait of three individuals living off the grid—Gianfranco Rosi's Below Sea Level documents a Southern California desert community who have turned their backs on society. Tania Cypriano's Born to Be offers a glimpse inside the groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery; Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri The Gospel of Eureka delves into a thriving queer community in the midst of the Ozarks. Homing in on the power of the written word, Vanessa Gould's Obit. whisks the spectator inside a team of obituary writers at The New York Times, while Scott Thurman's The Revisionaries traces the work of one man to re-write the history and science curriculum from within the Texas State Board of Education.
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A Good Day to Die, David Mueller & Lynn Salt (2010)
A Good Day to Die, David Mueller & Lynn Salt / USA, 2010
At the age of 5, Dennis Banks was taken from his grandparents and relocated to a federal boarding school, where the prime objective was to rid American Indian children of their culture, traditions, and heritage. Experiencing the ripple effects of his community's discrimination at the hands of the US government, Banks went on to co-found the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968. The power of his activism is felt still today in the unfinished battle for Native American civil rights.
Refracting the politics of America's original sin through one man's intensely personal story, A Good Day to Die champions a hero of the only people who can truly call this nation home. David Mueller and Lynn Salt's documentary premiered at the American Indian Film Festival, where it won Best Feature Documentary, and Santa Cruz, where it won the Jury Award.
American Mystic, Alex Mar (2010)
American Mystic, Alex Mar / USA, 2010
Chuck lives in the South Dakota badlands. While he and his wife struggle to make ends meet, they find meaning in their Lakota Sioux heritage, making great effort to preserve their rituals, such as sundancing. In Northern California, Morpheus, a pagan priestess, cultivates a spiritual sanctuary; in the former revivalist district of Upstate New York, Kublai plies his trade as a Spiritualist medium. Among the dusky landscapes of rural America, these three individuals embrace distinct ways of life outside of mainstream society, immersed in alternative faiths.
A triptych portrait of modern American fringe-dwellers, American Mystic is imbued with a lyrical, separatist spirit. Alex Mar's first documentary premiered at Tribeca, San Francisco Docfest and Albuquerque.
Below Sea Level, Gianfranco Rosi (2008)
Below Sea Level, Gianfranco Rosi / Italy-USA, 2008
Roughly 200 miles southeast of Los Angeles, in the wild desert of Southern California, is an ad hoc town without electricity or running water. Some denizens are just passing through, others are here to stay. While disparate circumstances have brought them here, all have turned their backs on society, wishing only to be left alone.
Filmed over the course of five years, Below Sea Level offers a glimpse inside a ragtag colony of flatland squatters. Gianfranco Rosi's second documentary premiered at IDFA - Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival; Cinéma du Réel, where it won Best Film; and the Venice International Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary in Orizzonti.
Born to Be, Tania Cypriano (2019)
Born to Be, Tania Cypriano / USA, 2019
New York's Mount Sinai Hospital houses the groundbreaking Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, a mecca for quality gender-affirming care. Here Dr. Jess Ting works with transgender and non-binary patients to navigate their own particular journeys—Cashmere, long since sober, recounts her time spent living on the streets of New York City, while Jordan finally feels they have the support they need to take the next step in their transition. Mahogany, once a successful male model, has sacrificed her career to embrace life as the woman she is.
Exploring the histories, joys, and struggles of Dr. Ting's patients, Born to Be offers a complex and nuanced account of the fluidity of gender and each person's right to choose how to define it for oneself. Tania Cypriano's third documentary premiered at Athens, Palm Springs, Hong Kong, New York and Sarasota.
The Gospel of Eureka, Donal Mosher & Michael Palmieri (2018)
The Gospel of Eureka, Donal Mosher & Michael Palmieri // USA, 2018
Eureka, Arkansas is a one-of-a-kind oasis in the traditionally conservative bastion of the Ozarks. Alongside a devout Christian population is a thriving queer community, whose epicenter is a local gay bar run by Lee and Walter. The proudly out husband-owners of the affectionately dubbed 'hillbilly Studio 54' are evangelists as much for their Southern Baptist faith as the culture of queerness and drag their bar is home to. Here, contradictions are both tenuously brokered, and welcome.
Delving into a fascinating community with bombast and grace, The Gospel of Eureka is a lush, immersive slice of Americana. Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri's fifth collaboration premiered at SXSW - South by Southwest, Göteborg, Sheffield International Documentary Festival and BAMcinemafest.
Obit., Vanessa Gould (2016)
Obit., Vanessa Gould // USA, 2016
How to fit a life into 1,000 words? The obituary writers at the New York Times race against the clock to cull details, weaving decades of personal and professional history into a compelling digest of singular existence. Theoretically bleak work is revealed as life-affirming, as an easy camaraderie swells within this legendary team.
A riveting portrait of some of the world's most specialized journalists, Obit. artfully weighs questions of legacy, memory, and existence. Vanessa Gould's second documentary premiered at Tribeca, Hot Docs, Philadelphia and Palm Springs, and is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
The Revisionaries, Scott Thurman (2012)