Coming to The WORLD Channel’s AfroPoP today, Monday, April 25:RESTITUTION? AFRICA’S FIGHT FOR ITS ART

Director:Nora Philippe

World Premiere:French TV broadcast (Oct 2021)

Select Festivals:CPH:DOX

About:Should Western museums return works of art and cultural artifacts to Africa?

Coming to PBS today, Monday, April 25:BIG SONIA

Directors:Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday

Premiere:Napa Valley 2016

Select Festivals:DOC NYC, Seattle, Cleveland, Sun Valley, Big Sky Doc, Milwaukee, Durban, Jewish fests in San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Palm beach, Charlotte, Kansas City, Southampton, and Miami

About:An intimate and at times humorous portrait of an unstoppable Holocaust survivor.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, April 25:AWARE: GLIMPSES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Director:Frauke Sandig, Eric Black

World Premiere:Hof 2020

Select Festivals:Docs Against Gravity, Melbourne Doc, Maui, Illuminate

About:Six researchers take radically different approaches in their investigation of the mysteries of consciousness.

In the eye-opening documentary Navalny, film-maker Daniel Roher was given unprecedented access to a Russian politician surviving an assassination attempt and a prison sentence

In an interview broadcast last weekend, Jake Tapper of CNN put it to Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he might not survive the war with Russia and asked how he would want to be remembered.

“A human being that loved life to the fullest and loved his family and loved his motherland – definitely not a hero,” the Ukrainian president replied through an interpreter. “I want people to take me as I am: a regular human.”

Coming to Apple TV+ today, Friday, April 22:THEY CALL ME MAGIC

Director:Rick Famuyiwa

World Premiere:Apple TV+ (April 2022)

About:A docuseries offering an intimate look at the life and legacy of sports icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

Coming to Film Movement Plus today, Friday, April 22:HAMADA

Director:Eloy Domínguez Serén

World Premiere:IDFA 2018

Select Festivals:Tempo Doc, Göteborg, Gijon, Doc Montevideo, Cinéma du Réel

About:A portrait of several of the forgotten Sahrawi people, abandoned in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert ever since Morocco drove them out of Western Sahara forty years ago.

Coming to theatres and virtual cinema tomorrow, Friday, April 22:THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE

Director:Iryna Tsilyk

World Premiere:Sundance 2020

Select Festivals:Berlin, IDFA, Hot Docs, Doc Fortnight, Thessaloniki Doc, ZagrebDox, Docs Against Gravity, Biografilm, Docudays UA, Reykjavik, Zurich, Dokufest, Adelaide, Seattle

About:A Ukrainian family processes life in a war zone by making films about their experience.

Coming to Film Movement Plus tomorrow, Friday, April 22:FAR WESTERN

Director:James Payne

World Premiere:IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:Full Frame, Krakow, deadCenter

About:An exploration of how American country music was transplanted to post-World War II Japan, captivating a loyal audience to the present day.

Coming to Netflix today, Wednesday, April 20:CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE JOHN WAYNE GACY TAPES

Director:Joe Berlinger

World Premiere:Netflix (April 2022)

About:An exploration of how John Wayne Gacy – an aspiring politician, beloved local contractor, and part-time clown-for-hire who murdered 33 young men between 1972 and 1976 – operated for so long with impunity.

Coming to Hulu tomorrow, Thursday, April 21:CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: A REAL AMERICAN HORROR STORY

Director:Jessica Dimmock

World Premiere:Hulu release (April 2022)

About:A docuseries following the story of Steven Stayner and his family’s 50-year journey to unravel the tale of two brothers, one deemed a villain and the other a hero.

Newly re-released on DVD this week:FROM THE JOURNALS OF JEAN SEBERG

Director:Mark Rappaport

World Premiere:Toronto 1995

Select Festivals:Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Karlovy Vary, Cleveland

About:Ill-fated actress Jean Seberg – portrayed by Mary Beth Hurt – reflects on her life as illustrated through her work in this creative exploration of film history and women’s place within it.

Coming to Netflix today, Tuesday, April 19:WHITE HOT: THE RISE & FALL OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH

Director:Alison Klayman

World Premiere:Netflix release (April 2022)

About:The story of Abercrombie & Fitch’s emergence as one of the most successful teen lifestyle brands in American history — and the dark inner workings of exclusionary practices and systematic racism that led to the company’s decline.

Coming to The WORLD Channel’s AfroPoP series tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19:DOWNSTREAM TO KINSHASA

Director:Dieudo Hamadi

World Premiere:Cannes 2020 (unscreened)

Select Festivals:Toronto, IDFA, DOK Leipzig, RIDM, Singapore, Seattle, Doclisboa, Leeds, Cleveland, AFI Fest

About:Survivors of Congo’s Six-Day War seek long-delayed compensation from their government.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to NYC’s Pure Nonfiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19, and to CNN and CNN+ this Sunday, April 24:NAVALNY

Director:Daniel RoherWorld Premiere:Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:CPH:DOX, Docville, Cleveland, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Sun Valley, Full Frame

About:After Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government, he partners with journalists and international news organizations to investigate his attempted assassination and find proof of the Kremlin’s involvement. 

Coming to POV today, Monday, April 18:ON THE DIVIDE

Director:Leah Galant, Maya Cueva

World Premiere:Tribeca 2021

Select Festivals:New Orleans, Human Rights Watch, Watch Docs, St Louis, Tallgrass, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, SF Latino, Boston Latino, Woods Hole

About:A look at the lives of three Latinx people in McAllen TX, whose different beliefs come to a head at the last abortion clinic on the US/Mexico border.

Coming to Showtime today, Friday, April 5:LA MADRINA: THE SAVAGE LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA

Director:Raquel Cepeda

World Premiere:DOC NYC 2020

Select Festivals:Tribeca, Philadelphia Latino, Hot Docs

About:The “first lady” of the Savage Skulls reflects on the pivotal role of women in the 1970s New York City gang and her later shift to community activism.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to Film Movement Plus today, Friday, April 15:BOTERO

Director:Don Millar

World Premiere:Morelia 2018

Select Festivals:Palm Springs, Seattle, Miami, Montevideo

About:A tribute to the popular Colombian artist.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to OVID.tv today, Thursday, April 14:RED HOLLYWOOD

Director:Thom Andersen, Noël Burch

World Premiere:Locarno 1996

Select Festivals:San Sebastian, Vancouver, Ann Arbor, Art of the Real

About:An essay film exploring the work of studio directors who were on the Red Scare blacklist.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to NYC’s Pure Nonfiction series today, Tuesday, April 12:THE FIRST STEP

Director:Brandon Kramer

World Premiere:Tribeca 2021

Select Festivals:AFI Docs, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Woods Hole, Hot Springs Doc, Heartland, Virginia

About:Black progressive activist and political commentator Van Jones navigates increasingly tense and isolating political and racial divides in his attempt to become a “bridge builder” during the Trump administration.

Coming to The WORLD Channel’s AfroPoP series today, Monday, April 11:SHE HAD A DREAM

Director:Raja Amari

World Premiere:IDFA 2020

Select Festivals:CPH:DOX, Zurich

About:Charismatic, young, Black, and working-class, Ghofrane Binous became politically active during the Tunisian national elections. 

Coming to theatres for a limited engagement today, Monday, April 11 and tomorrow, Tuesday, April 12:NAVALNY

Director:Daniel RoherWorld Premiere:Sundance 2022

Select Festivals:CPH:DOX, Docville, Cleveland, Hot Docs, San Francisco, Seattle, Sun Valley, Full Frame

About:After Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government, he partners with journalists and international news organizations to investigate his attempted assassination and find proof of the Kremlin’s involvement. 

Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, April 8:COW

Director:Andrea Arnold

World Premiere:Cannes 2021

Select Festivals:DOC NYC, Telluride, IDFA, Busan, BFI London, Melbourne, Jerusalem, Beijing, Hamburg, Hamptons, Reykjavik, Mill Valley, Chicago, Jihlava, AFI Fest, Tokyo, Rio

About:A close-up portrait of the daily lives of two cows.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, April 8:¡VIVA MAESTRO!

Director:Ted Braun

World Premiere:US theatrical release (April 2022)

About:A portrait of world-renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel as he responds to the unexpected and daunting obstacles of social unrest in his homeland of Venezuela with powerful music-making and an innovative and triumphant concert that celebrates the power of art to renew and unite.

Coming to Netflix today, Thursday, April 7:RETURN TO SPACE

Director:E Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

World Premiere:Netflix release (April 2022)

About:Elon Musk and SpaceX engineers embark on a historic mission to return NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and revolutionize space travel.

Coming to OVID.tv today, Thursday, April 7:UNCLE HOWARD

Director:Aaron Brookner

World Premiere:Sundance 2016

Select Festivals:Berlin, New York, Seattle, BAFICI, Jerusalem, Warsaw, San Sebastian, Biografilm, Cleveland

About:The filmmaker sets out to rediscover his uncle’s pioneering films.

I profiled the doc before Sundance here.