Mirra Bank, Sophie Fiennes, Su Friedrich, Vitaly Mansky, Mila Turajlić, Fronza Woods & many more!
OVID.tv has announced its wide-ranging selection of films coming in August with 30 documentaries (and one short fiction film) as part of its first ever DOC MONTH including 24 Exclusive Streaming Premieres.
Highlights include two new documentary features by Vitaly Mansky (Sunrise/Sunset, 24 hours in the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Putin’s Witnesses, chronicling the origins of the Russian president’s regime) as well Mila Turajlić’s The Other Side of Everything, which won Best Documentary at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2018. The Independent hashailed this Serbian filmmaker as “one of the most galvanizing voices for political action in contemporary documentary cinema.”
There are also two docs on climate change by David Abel (Entangled and Lobster War), and one short fiction film, Killing Time by Fronza Woods along with her short doc Fannie’s Film. Stop, by Spencer Wolff, examines the class-action lawsuit that challenged the New York City Police Department’s practice of stop & frisk; Sophie Fiennes’ Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow bears witness to the incredible creative process of German artist Anselm Kiefer; and much more!
Wednesday, August 4th
Sunrise/Sunset
Directed by Vitaly Mansky; Kino Lorber, Documentary, 2009
Featuring the Dalai Lama
Russia
The daily life of the Dalai Lama is brought home with remarkable intimacy in SUNRISE/SUNSET. Granted total access to His Holiness for 24 hours, this is a day in the life of the Dalai Lama from when he wakes up at 3AM until his bedtime at dusk. Starting with his morning fitness routine and continuing on through the private audiences, press conferences, and blessings he imparts every day, it is a comprehensive and compassionate document of his everyday habits.
“Sometimes the people call me a living Buddha or a God King, but I always say, this is nonsense. Through this film you will realize, I am a normal human being, nothing special. Just a normal Buddhist monk.” –the Dalai Lama
Putin’s Witnesses
OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere
Directed by Vitaly Mansky; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2018
Russia
Examines the early life of Vladimir Putin and the political machine that brought him to power.
“Exiled Russian docmaker Vitaly Mansky reassembles his own first-hand footage from the early days of the Putin presidency, to damning, gripping effect.” –Variety
*Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2018, Grand Prix for Best Documentary
Thursday, August 5th
| Bontoc Eulogy OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Marlon Fuentes; Sentient.Art.Film, Documentary/Drama Hybrid, 1995 US Drawing on the Smithsonian’s archive of the “living exhibits” of Filipinos at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the only film from Marlon Fuentes nests a narrative of discovering family lore, ethnography of the Bontoc people, and stylized enactments in a far-reaching inquiry into historical erasure. |
| Friday, August 6th |
| Killing Time OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Fronza Woods; Women Make Movies, Short Narrative, 1979 US An offbeat, wryly humorous look at the dilemma of a would-be suicide unable to find the right outfit to die in, examines the personal habits, socialization, and complexities of life that keep us going. |
Fannie’s Film
OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere
Directed by Fronza Woods; Women Make Movies, Short Documentary, 1979
US
A 65-year-old cleaning woman for a professional dancers’ exercise studio performs her job while telling us in voiceover about her life, hopes, goals, and feelings. A challenge to mainstream media’s ongoing stereotypes of women of color who earn their living as domestic workers, this seemingly simple documentary achieves a quiet revolution: the expressive portrait of a fully realized individual.
| Tuesday, August 10th |
| In Mansourah, You Separated Us OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Dorothée-Myriam Kellou, Icarus Films, Documentary, 2019 France The director returns to Algeria with her father Malek to learn about how his village was destroyed during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) and his family relocated by force. Malek serves as guide and translator for the viewers and his daughter, who does not speak Arabic and is shocked by the silence surrounding the deportations. The film sheds light on a largely silenced, yet essential part of Algerian-French colonial history. |
| Tadmor OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim, Icarus Films, Documentary, 2016 Lebanon/France/Switzerland/Qatar/United Arab Emirates Former Lebanese detainees break their long-held silence about the horrific years they spent imprisoned in Tadmor, one of the Assad regime’s most dreadful prisons in Syria. “[I was] unable to tear my eyes away. A much-needed spotlight on a dark history that should not be overlooked. [With masterful cinematography, Tadmor] speaks volumes on the lasting impacts of systematic torture and degradation; the pain and trauma echoing in the silence cannot be unheard.” —Al Jadid: A Review of Arab Culture & Arts |
| Tinghir-Jerusalem OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Kamal Hachkar, Icarus Films, Documentary, 2011 France/Israel/Morocco Filmmaker Kamal Hachkar searches for the lost community of Berber Jews in Morocco. |
| Wednesday, August 11th |
| East Punk Memories OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Lucile Chaufour; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2014 Featuring musicians Kelemen Balazs, Toth Miklos, Mozsik Imre, Marton Attila, Papp Zoltan Gyorgy, Vanyi Tamas, Rupaszov Tamas, Horvath Attila, Erds Jozsef, Vojtko Dezs, Asztalos Ildiko and Torjek Tunde with their punk bands Aurora, Bandanas, CPG, ETA, Kretens and Modells France Candid, home movie-esque Super 8mm footage that Chaufour filmed in Hungary during punk’s heyday is paired with contemporary interviews of the same musicians today. They bring a generation of experience to this resonant discussion of the position their music and culture has played in their country’s political evolution with the passage of time. |
The Other Side of Everything
Directed by Mila Turajlić; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2017
Serbia
A locked door inside a Belgrade home has kept one family separated from their past for generations. An intimate conversation between the director and her mother, the dynamic activist and scholar Srbijanka Turajlić, reveals a house and a country haunted by history. What begins as the chronicle of a childhood home grows into an elegant portrait of a charismatic and brilliant woman in times of great political turmoil.
| ive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Grzegorz Szczepaniak, Deckert Distribution, Documentary, 2017 Poland The youngest protagonist of the documentary is a Wartburg automobile over 50 years old. The car is still on the road, driven by Bogdan, who is inside it with his mother Kazimiera. This road movie which takes place between the concentration camp of Majdanek, Poland, and a former Nazi labor factory in Germany is actually a journey into the past, retracing the memories from the war. It is also a portrayal of a unique relationship between mother and son. Bogdan devotes almost all his time to Kazimiera – except for the moments when he proudly presents the quaint ugliness of the car to the people he accidentally meets. |
| Thursday, August 12th |
| Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton Directed by Stephen Silha and Eric Slade, Kino Lorber, Documentary, 2013 US James Broughton’s remarkable story spans a lifetime of acclaim for his joyous experimental films and poetry celebrating the human body, finding his soulmate at age 61 and finally, his ascendancy as a revered bard of sexual liberation. |
| Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow Directed by Sophie Fiennes, Kino Lorber, Documentary, 2010 France Starting in 2000, German artist Anselm Kiefer began constructing a series of large elaborate structures, comprising 48 buildings, a labyrinth of tunnels, bridges, lakes and towers. The film bears witness to an incredible creative process. |
| Anne Clark – I’ll Walk Out Into Tomorrow OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Claus Withopf, Deckert Distribution, Documentary, 2017 Germany Anne Clark, English poet and spoken word-artist, has been celebrated worldwide on stage for more than 30 years. She set standards as an iconic eloquent, yet modest rebel and is a pioneer of electronic music. The filmmaker Claus Withopf has accompanied Anne Clark for almost a decade and gives deep insight into her life and work. |
| Friday, August 13th |
| Stop OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Spencer Wolff, Kino Lorber, Documentary, 2014 Featuring David Ourlicht, Michael Bloomberg, and Ray Kelly US STOP is a feature length documentary about Floyd v. City of New York, the class-action lawsuit that challenged the New York City Police Department’s practice of stop & frisk, and resulted in the landmark decision finding the practice unconstitutional. |
| Like Any Other Kid OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Victoria Mills, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2017 US Follows the intimate relationships between incarcerated youth and staff who use love and structure to teach youth offenders how to take responsibility for themselves. |
| Seats at the Table OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Chris Farina, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2018 US Portrays a remarkable college class which connects university students with incarcerated students discussing Russian literature at a maximum security juvenile facility. |
| Tuesday, August 17th |
| Entangled OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by David Abel, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2021 US How climate change has accelerated a collision between one of the world’s most endangered species, North America’s most valuable fishery, and a federal agency mandated to protect both. |
Lobster War
OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere
Directed by David Abel, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2019
US
Climate-changed ocean temperatures shift New England’s lobster fishery across national boundaries, sparking international tension.
| Wednesday, August 18th |
| No Fear No Favor OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Mirra Bank, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2020 US African communities on the front lines of the poaching crisis fight to protect their wildlife for future generations. |
| Dark Eden OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Jasmin Herold & Michael Beamish, Deckert Distribution, Documentary, 2018 Germany On a journey for an answer to the question, “How high is the price for a better life?,” the directors explore Fort McMurray in the far north of Canada, home of the largest industrial project and the third largest oil reserve on the planet. People from all over the world come here to earn sky-high salaries at the sacrifice of the environment. Film and reality collide as the directors find themselves in their own personal nightmare. |
| Thursday, August 19th |
| I Cannot Tell You How I Feel OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Su Friedrich; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2016 US Su Friedrich takes up the camera in a new chapter of her quest to film the battleground of family life. Her mother Lore—who played the lead in The Ties That Bind (1984), a film about her experiences growing up in Germany during the Second World War—plays the lead again, this time kicking and protesting against being moved at the age of 94 from her home in Chicago. |
Jamilia
OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere
Directed by Aminatou Echard; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2018
Kyrgyzstan
This mesmerizing film, shot in Kyrgyzstan on richly saturated Super-8 footage, is a search for Jamilia, the title character in that country’s famous novel by Chinghiz Aitmatov, about a young woman who rebels against the strict rules of her society.
Over the course of its haunting narrative, director Aminatou Echard introduces contemporary Kyrgyz women who, in talking about this literary heroine, reveal their own private lives and desires, the social rules they chafe under and their ideas of freedom.
Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman
OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere
Directed by Jero Yun; Icarus Films, Documentary, 2016
France
This documentary shows the reality of a woman who left everything behind, including her husband and two sons, to seek a better life, and who, in some ways, has known the worst. And speaking of “the worst,” Mrs. B. (whose name is never revealed) knows everything there is to know about the trafficking of North Koreans.
Over a decade, she has learned the tricks of the trade herself and runs a trafficking business from her small farmhouse in northern China. Now, she plans to return to Seoul herself, seek refugee status, see her Korean husband and sons again, and then send for her Chinese husband and his octogenarian parents.
| Friday, August 20th |
| The Revisionaries Directed by Scott Thurman, Kino Lorber, Documentary, 2012 US In Austin, Texas, fifteen people influence what is taught to the next generation of American children. Once every decade, the highly politicized Texas State Board of Education rewrites the teaching and textbook standards for its nearly 5 million schoolchildren. And when it comes to textbooks, what happens in Texas affects the nation as a whole. THE REVISIONARIES follows the rise and fall of some of the most controversial figures in American education through some of their most tumultuous intellectual battles. |
| A Home Called Nebraska OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Beth Gage and George Gage, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2020 US People in Nebraska wholeheartedly welcome refugees and show that the newcomers enrich their communities, their economies, and their lives. |
| Tuesday, August 24th |
| Let Them Eat Dirt OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Rivkah Beth Medow and Brad Marshland, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2019 US Looks at the role microbes play in the development, physical and mental health of our children, and argues that good health may begin with kids playing in the dirt. |
| Wednesday, August 25th |
| Bikes vs Cars Directed by Fredrik Gertten, Kino Lorber, Narrative, 2015 US Activists and thinkers fight for better cities, and refuse to stop riding bicycles despite the increasing number of riders killed in traffic. |
| The Best of Both Worlds OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by John de Graaf, Bullfrog Films, Documentary, 2019 US Explores the concept of cohousing as expressed through first-hand observations of residents of four cohousing communities—including the first one in the United States—and observations by architect Charles Durrett, who brought the concept to the US from Denmark. |
| Thursday, August 26th |
| Café OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Hatuey Viveros Lavielle, Icarus Films, Documentary, 2014 France Jorge is about to become the first person from his village to graduate from law school. Chayo, his pregnant and unmarried teenage sister, faces the most difficult decision of her life. Their father, Antonio, died last year. Meanwhile their quiet and methodical mother, Tere, does her best to support them, selling handmade napkin holders for 15 pesos (about $1) apiece. |
Friday, August 27th
| John Berger or The Art of Looking OVID Exclusive, Streaming Premiere Directed by Cordelia Dvorák, Deckert Distribution, Documentary, 2016 Germany Art, politics and motorcycles: on the occasion of his 90th birthday, JOHN BERGER OR THE ART OF LOOKING is an intimate portrait of the writer and art-critic whose groundbreaking insights on seeing have shaped us for already five decades. His four-part BBC series Ways of seeing opened a whole generation’s eyes. |
| Complete list of films premiering on OVID this month (in alphabetical order): A Home Called Nebraska, Beth Gage and George Gage (2020) Anne Clark – I’ll Walk Out Into Tomorrow, Claus Withopf (2017) Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton, Eric Slade, Stephen Silha (2013) Bikes vs Cars, Fredrik Gertten (2015) Bontoc Eulogy, Marlon Fuentes (1995) Café, Hatuey Viveros Lavielle (2014) Dark Eden, Jasmin Herold & Michael Beamish (2018) East Punk Memories, Lucile Chaufour (2014) Entangled, David Abel (2021) I Cannot Tell You How I Feel, Su Friedrich (2016) In Mansourah You Separated Us, Dorothée-Myriam Kellou (2019) Jamilia, Aminatou Echard (2018) Fannie’s Film, Fronza Woods (1979) John Berger or the Art of Looking, Cordelia Dvorák (2016) Killing Time, Fronza Woods (1979) Let Them Eat Dirt, Rivkah Beth Medow and Brad Marshland (2019) Like Any Other Kid, Victoria Mills (2017) Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman, Jero Yun (2016) No Fear No Favor, Mirra Bank (2020) Lobster War, David Abel (2019) Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, Sophie Fiennes (2010) Putin’s Witnesses, Vitaly Mansky (2018) Seats at the Table, Chris Farina (2018) Stop, Spencer Wolff (2015) Sunrise / Sunset, Vitaly Mansky (2009) Tadmor, Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slim (2016) The Best of Both Worlds, John de Graaf (2019) The Other Side of Everything, Mila Turajlić (2017) The Revisionaries, Scott Thurman (2012) The Ugliest Car, Grzegorz Szczepaniak (2017) Tinghir Jerusalem, Kamal Hachkar (2011) |
