Review: Tabloid
In Errol Morris’ fantastic new documentary, Tabloid, the master filmmaker gives us just what we’ve come to expect from him: another bizarre and fascinating study of the human condition. The film takes on a sensational event from 1977, the case of the ‘Manacled Mormon.’ Though the story involves several people, the individual at the centre of it is Joyce McKinney, an all-American beauty queen, possible stalker and kidnapper, and undisputed publicity magnet. Read more
Review: A Film Unfinished
At the end of WWII, raw film shot by Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto was discovered and quickly became a resource for historians. Later, a missing reel was found that showed multiple takes and scene staging. A Film Unfinished presents the raw footage in its entirety. The various approaches to presenting the material, including Holocaust survivor commentary and entries from a diary, results in a relatively fluid narrative. The contrivance of the recorded events and abundance of discarded corpses, as well as the survivors’ reactions, are highly impactful. The documentary is an intriguing look inside one element of the Nazi propaganda machine, with a variety of views to help put it into context.
TIFF ’10: Documentary line up announced
Festival programming announcements for TIFF 2010 are coming out fast and furiously these days, and yesterday they released a huge list of documentaries that will be screened in September. With world or North American premiere films from the likes of Frederick Wiseman, Errol Morris, Thom Zimny, Kim Longinotto, Alex Gibney, and Werner Herzog, TIFF wasn’t kidding when they said it was to be a “veritable who’s who of documentary filmmaking.” Exciting! Read more
