been here stay here

I've been really impressed by two thoroughly American climate change-minded documentaries from this year so far: the Tangier Island-set Been Here Stay Here, and the roaming rumination of Humboldt USA.

My Film-Forward reviews are here:

Been Here Stay Here

Humboldt USA

epic: elvis presley in concert

My review of Baz Luhrmann's bombastic, fairly dazzling concert doc EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, here at Film-Forward.

 

it's never over, jeff buckley

My review of Amy Berg's thoughtful, affecting documentary on Jeff Buckley is now up here at Film-Forward.

via Magnolia Pictures

folktales

My review of the beautiful, coming-of-age documentary of a Norwegian gap-year program, Folktales, from directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, is here at Film-Forward.

via Loki Films / Magnolia Pictures

2025 provincetown international film festival

I reviewed a few feature length films here at Film-Forward from the Provincetown International Film Festival.

My favorite out of the lineup that I saw was Alexi Wasser's perpetually unsettled romantic sex comedy Messy.

Also caught a few docs as well, Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, and Everything Moves... all enlightening. Reviews of those here. 

garland jeffreys: the king of in between

My review of the documentary Garland Jeffreys: The King of in Between is now up here at Film-Forward.

The film, directed by his partner of over 40 years, Claire Jeffreys, with a few starry talking heads, is a revealing overview of his career and music that should appeal to both longtime fans and the uninitiated.

film-forward's best of 2024 list

Film-Forward's Best of 2024 list is now live.

I wrote on the eye-opening documentary No Other Land and the riveting The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Both highlights of the year for me. 

sabbath queen

Sandi DuBowski’s over twenty-years-in-the-making doc Sabbath Queen emerges less of a character portrait of its main subject, queer rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, and more of a probing of the strengths, follies, dichotomies and burdens of the Jewish faith.

My Film-Forward review here.

 

bread & roses

Sahra Mani’s documentary (co-produced by Jennifer Lawrence) Bread & Roses is a stark and unflinching portrayal of resilience amid oppression.

My Film-Forward review here.

dusty & stones

My review of this endearing documentary on cousin country music duo from Swaziland is now up here at Film-Forward.

a new kind of wilderness

I was surprised and moved by this intricate portrait of a family in rural Norway.

My Film-Forward of Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind of Wilderness here.

holding back the tide

Emily Packer's hybrid documentary, Holding Back the Tide, surveys the history, environmental concerns of, and transness of the New York City waters' oyster. A unique experience and I learned so much! 

My Film-Forward review is here.

disco: soundtrack of a revolution

This Summer, PBS is harnessing a BBC Production of Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution, directed by Louise Lockwood and Shianne Brown. The docuseries is refreshingly frank about the evolution of disco—its black, brown, and queer roots. For those who know, know, but audiences tuning into PBS, young and old, may be re-introduced to disco’s meanings and origins for the first time, or looking at its history anew, still a bit cloudy and derided in music criticism and within popular culture.

The series is split into three, breezy, satisfying bites. Starting with David Mancuso’s (dubbed the “Father of Clubbing”) and his NYC loft gatherings in the early 1970s, mostly made up of people of color partying to “danceable R&B.”  Soon, parties like Mancuso’s started cropping up in cities across America. A 1972 track by Eddie Kendricks, “Girl You Need a Change of Mind,” with its persistent beat, smooth vocal, and deep, trembling piano, fast became an underground hit. Technological advancements of more robust stereo systems filling sound in large rooms accelerated the rise of clubs. Discotheques began to fuse together marginalized groups, some hit hard by the economic crisis, by providing safe spaces and emotional (and physical) outlets.

The beats became stronger, and even more driving, on subsequent records like Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “The Love I Lost,” both integral to sounds of early disco. The birth of two turntables created a whole new game where a seamless, blended crossover of tunes could keep the party going without stopping all night long and into the morning. This hedonistic, party culture is captured well through the series’ intricate use of archival footage (the deft film editing is by Ed Horne, Damian Leask, and Jonathan Seal).

There is a parallelism between disco and capitalism—one thing after another—excess and growth, over a monotonous, driving beat.  During this era, record companies were now symbiotic with what was playing in the clubs, not just the payola whims of radio. Though disco rapidly started to infiltrate the charts and airwaves, previously mostly of white rock formats, with separate R&B stations.  A humorous story emerges in the second episode of Casablanca Records buying sixteen minutes of airtime on radio stations so they could play Donna Summer’s epic “Love to Love You Baby,” an enduring classic that marries sexual explicitly with the disco sound. The sexual nature of disco, and the rise of queer and fearlessly flamboyant artists like Sylvester, would of course cause backlash with conservatives and religious groups at the time (somehow the Village People with their major key, sing-songy tunes and blatant queer references, eschewed scrutiny). Interestingly, many of the disco divas portrayed here, like Patti LaBelle, began singing in the church; elements of gospel are an undeniable facet in American disco music in particular. And the series invokes the soaring anthems of Candi Staton’s “Young Hearts Run Free” (written after an incident with an abusive partner), Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” and, of course, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” which became an emblematic song at a wearied nation’s decade’s end.

Unlike past disco retrospectives, the titanic Saturday Night Fever, with John Travolta's Tony Manero as the straight, Rocky-type, who made disco relatable to white, straight culture, is less pronounced here. The music, too, those ubiquitous Bee Gees’ tunes, are praised by the doc’s talking heads. Yet, by leading up to this moment in 1977 with so much before, the documentary shows how the Saturday Night Fever phenomenon was directly and indirectly appropriated from black and queer culture.   

These influences permeating the mainstream (including the newscasts on the storied Studio 54), and the disintegration of white rock radio, (not too mention, probably too, the economic strain of the 1970s, including the gas crisis), led in part to the infamous Disco Demolition Night, detailed well here.  

As the party and fun peaks, then quickly winds down, the series gets a bit slack as well. The doc shows how disco never really died, just morphed into new sounds, such as house, and Larry Levan and his inventive garage music. The series features engaging testimonies from the likes of Staton, Ward, Nicky Siano, David Morales, Honey Dijon, and more. Overall, this is a worthwhile trip through history, and looks to disco admirably, and with some complexity, rather than an embarrassment, as treated often in the past. ***

 

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution debuts on PBS with Episode 1, “Rock the Boat,” on Tuesday, June 18th at 9 PM ET.

Episode 2, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” premieres Tuesday, June 25th at 9 PM ET.

The third and final episode, Episode 3, “Stayin’ Alive,” lands Tuesday, July 2nd at 9PM ET.

-Jeffery Berg

hidden master: the legacy of george platt lynes

My starred review of the George Platt Lynes documentary is here at Film-Forward.

I hadn't heard of him before and I'm so glad to be introduced to his work through this intelligent, beautifully wrought film.

the contestant

I wasn't familiar with Susunu! Denpa Shōnen until encountering Clair Titley's new documentary, The Contestant. The first half is a fascinating glimpse in the ethical dilemmas of an early reality TV competition show in 1998 and its mostly unware participant, Nasubi. The second half strains for uplift in Nasubi's story. Still, it's amazing how prescient this show would be! 

My Film-Forward review here.

high & low - john galliano

My review of Kevin Macdonald's documentary High & Low - John Galliano is here at Film-Forward. Because of its subject, it's more morose and unsettling than a typical enjoyable, fizzy fashion doc.