Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
In her first feature, Danish filmmaker Lise Birk Pedersen offers a chilling view of modern Russia, its fragile — perhaps illusory — democracy, and Nashi's alarmingly fascist tendencies (mass rallies, book burnings, "patriotic education," and vilification of opponents). But, distinguished by an artful, cinematic aesthetic and astonishing intimacy, the film's emotional weight lies in the evolution of Masha's political consciousness. Putin's Kiss reminds us that all politics are deeply personal.
- John Nein, Sundance Film Festival
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A Good Day to Die chronicles a movement that started a revolution and inspired a nation. By recounting the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native American who co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians, the film provides an in-depth look at the history and issues surrounding AIM's formation. From the forced assimilation of Native Americans within boarding schools, to discrimination by law enforcement authorities, to neglect by government officials responsible for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, AIM sought redress for the many grievances that its people harbored.
A terrific review and analysis of two recent Kino Lorber releases PUTIN'S KISS and KHODORKOVSKY in this month's Atlantic.
As depicted in Putin's Kiss, Khodorkovsky, and even in the more equivocal Target, the most damaging way that a state can be tyrannical is by breeding an attitude of cynicism and apathy toward democratic freedom—in essence, censoring the desire for freedom in the mind before it can emerge in the real world. Surely this is the real tragedy of authoritarianism, and it remains to be seen whether the Russian people will be able to overcome it as they choose their new leader in Russia's upcoming elections.
Read the entire review here. If you would like to bring either film to your community, drop us a note.