Category Archives: Documentary

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street review — A joyful return to “a unique experimental series”

May 14, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Marilyn Agrelo | Based on a book by Michael Davis | 107 min | On Demand This week I saw this Tweet from Amber Sparks (@ambernoelle): "I think a thing that young people could not possibly understand about Gen X and older Millennials is that our entire personalities were shaped by watching shows…Read More

Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide review — Artist plays in colour

April 16, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Max Basch and Malia Scharf | 77 min | Carbon Arc Cinema The second '80s New York artist documentary to show up at Carbon Arc in as many months, but the films' tonal differences and only slight overlap — mostly in the way AIDS impacted the scene — actually make them complementary. If…Read More

Wojnarowicz review — Artist rages against the darkness

March 26, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Chris McKim | 108 min | Carbon Arc Cinema This is an intense, art-filled documentary about David Wojnarowicz, a New York queer multi-media artist from the 1980s. The film is a montage of photos, film, music, painting, illustration, text, answer-machine messages and recorded monologues from Wojnarowicz, spiked with commentary from others in the…Read More

Softie review — A portrait of grassroots political change

March 25, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Sam Soko | 96 min | Carbon Arc Cinema This film is about Kenyan news photographer-turned-politician Boniface "Softie" Mwangi as he runs for public office in Nairobi. Director Soko gets an all-access pass to Mwangi's family, life, and campaign, and as an audience we're given a window into a former colonial culture where…Read More

FTA review — Defiant anti-war activists are finally heard

March 20, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Francine Parker | The FTA Show written by Michael Alaimo, Len Chandler, Pamela Donegan, Jane Fonda, Rita Martinson, Robin Menken, Holly Near, Donald Sutherland, Dalton Trumbo and Nancy Dowd | 97 min | Carbon Arc Cinema FTA is an interesting slice of early 1970s anti-war culture, a document of a "political vaudevillian" show…Read More

Stray review — It’s the dog’s life

March 7, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Elizabeth Lo | 72 min | Carbon Arc Cinema Five years ago when an audience could gather together in person in the screening room at the Museum Of Natural History on Summer Street, Carbon Arc Cinema programmed a documentary called Kedi about cats living on the streets of Istanbul. A delight for feline…Read More

A Glitch In The Matrix review — No red pill

February 5, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Rodney Ascher | 108 min | On Demand Hollywood has capitalized on the ideas of Philip K Dick, but we haven't yet had a documentary (that I've seen, anyway) that does justice to his concepts of memory, identity, and humanity. This isn't that doc, either. It takes us on a fascinating journey, but…Read More

Acasa, My Home review — A family in the wild

January 29, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Radu Ciorniciuc | 86 min | Carbon Arc Cinema In the Romanian capital Bucharest is an urban wetlands — now protected — called Văcărești. That's where this documentary starts, with the Enache family: Two adults and nine children who have been living in a large tent in the park for years. The filmmaker,…Read More

I Used To Go Here review — Diverting dramedy goes back to college

January 10, 2021 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Kris Rey | 80 min | On Demand Is 35 years old too young for a midlife crisis? To be fair, maybe what Kate Conklin (Gillian Jacobs) is going through is a different kind of crisis. The Chicago native just had her first novel published, called Seasons Passed, but it's not…Read More

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart review

December 31, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Frank Marshall | Written by Mark Monroe | 111 min | Crave Plus An entertaining and insightful doc on the lives and careers of the brothers Gibb — Barry, Maurice, and Robin, as well as younger brother Andy, who had a solo career and performed with his brothers. The Aussie pop stars are…Read More