“Instead of patronizing me, why don’t you give me an interview.” This is the sort of fearless response offered by one of the intrepid female reporters from the Indian newspaper Khabar Lahariya (Waves of News), which was started and is entirely run by Dalit women. The Dalit caste is considered the lowest, or ‘untouchable’ societal group in …
Documentary
The Mole Agent documentary AWFJ.org review
Director Maite Alberdi’s creative, captivating new film The Mole Agent feels like a rather slow narrative feature, in which not enough happens, until you remember it’s a documentary. Alberdi’s hybridization of staid drama and cinema vérité makes for poignant, intense viewing. The film will stay with you longterm, both as a bit of melancholia and as a …
The Painter and the Thief AWFJ.org review
Some directors are born to documentary filmmaking. To be able to build an arc through real-life events, to capture the essence of real people and their challenges, building enough trust with those subjects to get at deeper truths, to keep an audience connected to the subjects, these are what make a great documentarian. Benjamin Ree …
PICK OF THE LITTER Review: This Seeing-Eye Dog Training Doc is a Winner
Anyone who has ever had one of man’s best friends knows just how easily they can transform a bad mood. With just a solicitous face lick or an enthusiastic greeting at the end of a hard day, they can make everything better. Lately there have been a lot of hard days in this country, …
RBG Review: This Doc Shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg Giving Superhero Realness
I’m sure you all have heard about how audiences assembled for Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel superhero movie has broken the record for the biggest opening weekend ever. This weekend, another film, which features the closest thing to a real superhero we have in the US, is opening, and will make a great companion piece, …
Step review: Director Amanda Lipitz’s Documentary Shows What Committed Community Can Do
New this week in limited release is a documentary from director/producer Amanda Lipitz called Step. In a new all female charter school called Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, or BLSYW, the step team is influencing the members’ lives both on and off stage. The film follows these girls as they are empowered by their …
10 Documentaries that Changed the World for Children
Friday, April 6, 2012 The Weinstein Co. has made the choice to open the new documentary Bully on April 13th, the same day as Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods and Luc Besson’s Lockdown, hoping to appeal to the more sophisticated and socially aware film goers. In advance of this release, Cinema Siren thought …