Tag: Documentary
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Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon.
The clue’s in the title. Documenting the rise of the National Lampoon magazine and its prominence within outrageous humour and American pop-culture, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is the tale of one of contemporary American comedies most prolific outlets. Beginning with the satirical journalism and later looking at the presence…
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A Sinner in Mecca.
Sexuality, religion, barbarity and spirituality all come under discussion in A Sinner in Mecca – Parvez Sharma’s follow up to his début A Jihad for Love. Being both a homosexual man and devout Muslim, Sharma explores the supposed contradictions of his sexuality in the face of his religion. An extension of his first feature, A…
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Sunshine Superman.
Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man meets James Marsh’s Man on Wire in this triumphant documentary about one man with one intense passion for throwing himself off of cliffs; the art of BASE jumping. For Carl Boenish, sky-diving just wasn’t enough of a thrill. His passion for heights and adrenaline enabled him to carve out a career in…
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The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.
There are always two sides to every story. Stanley Nelson’s latest documentary explores the rise and fall of The Black Panthers during the civil rights movement; the tyranny they faced, the controversy they caused and the fires they equally stifled and started. This is, of course a film about hideous levels of racism that were…
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Best of Enemies.
On several occasions in 1968, two profound intellectuals came together to debate and discuss the social and political issues of the time. Televised nationally, these ferocious encounters quickly became explosive verbal battles. In one corner, Gore Vidal – prolific American writer who associated with left-wing politics and broke down sexual taboos in his controversial but…
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Amy.
As so many had to be with the singer herself, be patient with Amy. Spanning over two hours, Asif Kapadia’s new documentary explores the life and career of jazz singer Amy Winehouse. Incorporating archive footage, home movies and voice-over interviews with those entangled in her life, Amy focussed on the talent and troubles that consumed the…
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The Look of Silence.
When I first watched Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing I didn’t know how to process it. Repeat viewings haven’t helped. Although there is much to admire about his initial documentation of the remaining killers from the Indonesian genocide of the 1960s, I was left unsettled by the fantasy and surreal approach to a harrowing…
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I Am Divine.
The collaborative efforts of director John Waters and drag queen Divine placed both actor and director at the heart of underground cinema during the late sixties, seventies and early eighties. Their friendship and collaboration is discussed frequently throughout I Am Divine – a meditation on the life and work of Divine, but more importantly a…
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All This Mayhem.
During the 1990s, two controversial brothers from Australia burst onto the skateboarding world stage. At their peak they were seeded number one and two in the world but dealing with fame, wealth and bloated egos at such a young age lead to their downfall. All This Mayhem, made up of the footage captured by the brothers and…
Hannah McHaffie 