A new documentary about Death By Audio, a beloved music venue in Williamsburg that was forced to shutter in 2014, over-relies on the reminiscences of the people involved with the space.
Film
Invitation to the Party: Jan Nemec’s 1966 Satire of Czech Communism
Long seen as the “enfant terrible” of Czech cinema, Němec constantly found himself in trouble with Czech government authorities, and was almost arrested for making this film.
A Documentary Envisions a Book James Baldwin Never Finished
Directed by Raoul Peck, I Am Not Your Negro is montage and meditation, a dialogue between the archive and the present.
Documentarian Adam Curtis Dissects the World that Gave Rise to Trump
In Hypernormalisation (2016), Adam Curtis not only anticipates Trump’s victory, but also zeroes in on the abject disbelief and shock that followed in its wake.
At MoMA, Restored Bruce Lee Masterpieces Leap Back onto the Big Screen
Eternal Bruce Lee will share the purest portrayal of Lee’s style by using the closest possible reproduction of the crisp, colorful, large images audiences saw in cinemas in the 1970s.
A 1969 Film Offers Lessons in Resistance
Robert Kramer’s 1969 film Ice, about a group of revolutionaries in New York City, is part of a series of dystopian movies screening at Anthology Film Archives to coincide with Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Elizabeth Murray’s and Carmen Herrera’s Diverging Routes to Artistic Success
Recent documentaries about two well-known female painters make for a potent double bill at Film Forum.
A Film Shows How Important It Is to Name One’s Desire
Moonlight is largely about the violence done to Chiron that enmeshes him in silence, against the grain of moments of inexplicable kindness that break through to nurture him towards trust.
A Deeply Intimate Movie About Going Blind
Peter Middleton’s and James Spinney’s Notes on Blindness is a dramatic account of English theologian John Hull’s loss of sight.
A Mapplethorpe Documentary Favors Contemplation Over Controversy
Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s new documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures offers intimate insights into the controversial photographer’s life and persona.
A Filmmaker’s Impromptu Conversations on the Streets of Tunis
Ismaïl Bahri’s film began with a simple premise: he would walk around Tunis with a white sheet of paper taped over his camera lens and record the changes of light.
An Animated Glimpse of Hokusai’s Life Through His Daughter’s Eyes
A new animated biopic offers insight into the career and work of Hokusai through the life of his daughter, a fellow artist in Edo-era Japan.