Film festival will unveil docs on Johnny Cash, Richard Pryor, Beto O'Rourke, photographer Jim Marshall and much more SXSW is officially underway in the Texas capital, offering a wide range of new work for eager fans of documentary film. Among the premieres Friday night are State of Pride, a documentary about Gay Pride festivals in the U.S., timed to this summer's 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, which inaugurated the modern gay rights movement. Oscar winner Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk, The Celluloid Closet) and filmmaking partner Jeffrey Friedman directed the film. They were Oscar-nominated this year for their short documentary End Game. On June 4th, 2004, a sixty-three-ton bulldozer...systematically destroyed numerous businesses and homes in the small mountain town of Granby, Colorado. Also premiering Friday night is Tread, directed by Paul Solet, a documentary that recounts a bizarre incident from 2004 when "a sixty-three-ton bulldozer, fortified with steel and concrete, systematically destroyed numerous businesses and homes in the small mountain town of Granby, Colorado." Authorities could not stop the vehicle or the driver, Marvin Heemeyer, who was engaged in a longstanding feud with local business owners and town officials. "Tread explores the polarizing perspectives on this man, his motives, and what drove him to the breaking point," SXSW writes in its 2019 program. Tread is one of 10 films in Documentary Feature Competition, a group that includes Vision Portraits, directed by Rodney Evans, a documentary "that chronicles the creative paths of blind and visually impaired artists" including photographer John Dugdale, dancer Kayla Hamilton, writer Ryan Knighton, and Evans himself, the film's director. Well Groomed, also in doc competition, "travels the humorous, visually stunning world of Competitive Creative Dog Grooming alongside the colorful women transforming their beloved poodles into living sculptures." SXSW continues its tradition of showcasing significant music documentaries, in a section it calls 24 Beats Per Second. Films under that banner include Amazing Grace, the documentary about Aretha Franklin's recording of her live gospel album in 1972. The film was held up for 46 years, first by technical issues and then by legal ones, before making its unexpected debut last fall at DOC NYC. Related: |
AuthorMatthew Carey is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. His work has appeared on Deadline.com, CNN, CNN.com, TheWrap.com, NBCNews.com and in Documentary magazine. |