DOCOFILM

‘The Super Models’ Directors Didn’t Want to ‘Make a Puff Piece’
on September 24, 2023
Apple TV+ docuseries features supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford sharing their stories
You Can Go Now review – documentary about Indigenous artist Richard Bell is polemical and playful
by Luke Buckmaster on September 23, 2023
Art, activism and attitude collide in Larissa Behrendt’s exuberantly splashy film about a provocateur who can’t be predicted or pigeonholedGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailEvery documentarian exploring the life of a visual artist […]
How Nickelback Doc Hate to Love Went from EPK to Auteur Rockumentary
by Jason Gorber on September 23, 2023
Despite being a big music fan, I’ve managed to avoid hearing a single Nickelback song while knowing it was a track by the band. Sure, I must have heard “Rock Star” blasting at some restaurant, or encountered some Muzak version of “How You […]
‘Superpower’ Is Sean Penn’s Odd Vanity Project About Zelensky
on September 23, 2023
Paramount+ documentary is more concerned with the Oscar-winning actor’s feelings about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky than anything else
How Carolyn Taylor’s Teen Dreams of Olympic Skating — and Katarina Witt — Resulted in New Crave Comedy ‘I Have Nothing’
on September 22, 2023
It all started in 1988 with an obsession: Canadian comic Carolyn Taylor, now known as one of the stars and co-creators of “Baroness Von Sketch Show,” was a “closeted 15-year-old” watching Olympic figure skating in her aunt’s living room. […]
Amplify Pictures Hires Lauren Haber as Head of Documentary
on September 22, 2023
Documentary producer Lauren Haber has joined Amplify Pictures as its head of documentary, a newly created role at the studio. Amplify is an independent television studio founded back in 2018 by “Fleabag” producer Joe Lewis. The studio recently […]
‘Gangs of London’ Producer Pulse Films’ ‘Name Me Lawand’ Boarded for International Sales by MetFilm (EXCLUSIVE)
on September 22, 2023
MetFilm Sales has picked up worldwide rights (excluding U.K.) and will handle international sales on acclaimed documentary “Name Me Lawand” from “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films. Directed by Edward Lovelace (“The Possibilities Are […]
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court movie review (2023)
on September 22, 2023
The responsibilities of the United States Supreme Court come from the Constitution. The Founding Fathers who dreamed up the checks and balances between the executive (President and Cabinet agencies), the legislative (Congress and the Senate), and […]
The Storms of Jeremy Thomas movie review (2023)
on September 22, 2023
Mark Cousins is equally known for film writing and filmmaking. The two overlap to such an extent that by if you tried to draw a Venn diagram showing the relationship between them, it would just be a circle. A critic, scholar, programmer and […]
The rock’s the star: meditative film about a Cornish stone goes global
by Steven Morris on September 22, 2023
Christopher Morris’s documentary, A Year in a Field, delights sold-out Newlyn audience as it heads for festivals worldwideBarbie and Oppenheimer were both playing at the cinema in the Cornish fishing town of Newlyn this week but there was a full […]
Stop Making Sense review – Demme’s Talking Heads doc still burning down the house
by Peter Bradshaw on September 22, 2023
The energy of Jonathan Demme’s 1984 film defies categorisation, and David Byrne in the ‘Big Suit’ is the Chuck Berry of new wave art-rockThe initial reaction to this re-release of Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film from 1984 is […]
Margaret Henry obituary
by Stella Dadzie on September 21, 2023
My friend Margaret Henry, who has died aged 80, was a film-maker and teacher with a passionate belief in fighting for a world free of racism and injustice.She taught documentary and screenwriting at the London College of Printing from 1994 to 2002, […]
Carlos: The Santana Journey review – profile of guitar hero very much in control
by Leslie Felperin on September 21, 2023
Santana comes across pretty well, if clearly in charge of his image, but Rudy Valdez’s film feels a bit like a Wikipedia entry with added picturesFor those only passingly interested in the subject, this resolutely adequate portrait of guitarist […]
Documentary Story-Focusing Exercises
by NDE on September 21, 2023
Since retiring from the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, I’ve continued teaching story structure at film organizations. Even today, one of my most popular exercises is a worksheet that will help you focus your documentary’s story or […]
Cats of Malta review – purr-inducing documentary aims to encourage compassion
by Leslie Felperin on September 21, 2023
Interviewing the humans who help strays in their Maltese neighbourhood, this is a hazy but enjoyable slice of life with catsSocial media, for all its sins, has achieved at least one thing in this crazy, mixed-up world: it’s raised everyone’s […]
Happiness Begins with Café con Leche, in “Encarnación”
on September 20, 2023
The filmmaker David Pisonero Tarantino was asking himself a big question before making his short documentary “Encarnación”: What is the secret to happiness? “I was in a not-so-good place,” he told me, “wondering if I wanted to be a […]
The Job of Songs review – folk melodies and melancholia in rural Ireland
by Phil Hoad on September 20, 2023
Lila Schmitz’s documentary offers a candid look at Irish music and community struggles in a small Irish village known for its bar-room sessionsThat The Banshees of Inisherin may apparently be a documentary is the main takeaway of this swift but […]
A Year in a Field review – calming, meditative film cycles through the Cornish seasons
by Cath Clarke on September 20, 2023
Christopher Morris filmed a field in southwest England for one year for a documentary that wants us to stop and think about the environmentThe title says it all: beginning at the winter solstice in 2020, academic and film-maker Christopher Morris […]