DocuFest

Dallas VideoFest brings Documentary Festival to its 32nd-Anniversary Festival : DocuFest @ Angelika Oct 3-6

Kelly Kitchens Posted On September 23, 2019

Dallas VideoFest 32 presents DocuFest, featuring dozens of documentary features and also shorts, over four days, Oct. 3-6, 2019, at Angelika Film Center – Dallas (5321 E Mockingbird Ln Suite 230, Dallas).
videofest.org

Documentaries explore nonfiction investigations of topics or events deemed worthy of further insight. Its specific storytelling techniques are flourishing like never before – encompassing reportage, memoir, history, and humor. Documentaries have always been an integral part of the Dallas VideoFest experience.

“Sophisticated technology that lives in the palm of our hand has made shooting high-quality documentaries easier so filmmakers can follow people, movements and injustices in a dynamic, powerful and poetic manner,” said Bart Weiss, founder and artistic director of Dallas VideoFest.

“It is important to me to find films that will shake us out of our comfort zones and will push our boundaries in topics that people may be posting on social media about but are too uneasy to actually talk about face-to-face. Let’s get that conversation started right here at DocuFest.”

The annual Dallas VideoFest 32 DocuFest brings you the best in independent documentary film and video from across the globe and showcases meaningful life stories, which educate and entertain audiences of every demographic.

Tickets and Schedule:
Admission:
All-Festival Pass: $50
Saturday Festival Pass: $25
Sunday Festival Pass: $25
Individual/Film-Block Tickets: $10

DocuFest Film List:

AFTER MUNICH – Canada, 78 min.
by Francine Zuckerman
Filmmaker in Attendance
In partnership with 3 Stars Jewish Cinema

September 5th, 1972, the tenth day of the Munich Olympics, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September stormed the Israeli athletes’ quarters. The world watched live on television as eleven hostages were taken and later killed. For the first time, this story will be told through the eyes of four women. They were directly impacted by that day: An athlete, a widow, and two undercover agents. Their fates redirected. Their well-being and views impacted by the trauma. It’s a story of intrigue; secret identities; it’s about love and death; conflict and reconciliation; war and peace. These four women’s lives have been changed forever. But they weren’t the only ones.

TRAILER:
https://vimeo.com/346948251

WEB PRESENCE:
http://www.7thart.com/films/After-Munich

AMERICAN DHARMA – USA, 2018, 95 min.
by Errol Morris

No stranger to sitting down with some of the most controversial figures of our time, Errol Morris trains his lens on Stephen K. Bannon. In their wide-ranging conversation spanning over 16 hours, Morris questions Bannon on his background, belief system, his worldview, his current feelings on President Trump, and how films such as Henry King’s TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH, John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS, and Orson Welles’ CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT became part of Bannon’s understanding of the world. Frank and unflinching, Morris grapples with his own contention of Bannon’s ideology and methodology. With AMERICAN DHARMA, Morris proposes that even for those who disagree with Bannon, ignoring him is a dangerous course of action.

TRAILER:
https://youtu.be/m1krQukAv9Y

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8804284/

BEYOND THE BOLEX – USA, 94 min.
By Alyssa Bolsey

In the 1920s immigrant inventor, Jacques Bolsey aimed to disrupt the early film industry with a motion picture camera for the masses: the iconic Bolex. Over 90 years later, filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey pieces together the fragments of a forgotten family archive to reveal the epic story of her great-grandfather in BEYOND THE BOLEX. Interviewing family members and renowned filmmakers, Alyssa travels to Switzerland and delves into Jacques’ personal diary, film reels and collected images in order to understand the man and his impact on generations of filmmakers.

TRAILER:
https://vimeo.com/65630230

WEB PRESENCE:
https://beyondthebolex.com/

CUNNINGHAM in 3D – USA, 93 min
by Alla Kovgan

Even for those who know little about dance, Merce Cunningham is a recognizable name – an iconic figure in his field. The film concentrates on the three decades from 1942 to 1972 when Cunningham was making his reputation. Gorgeously shot in 3D, CUNNINGHAM brings us closer to these works than any audience has ever been before. Taking an inventive approach with locations, the film places dancers in evocative backdrops such as a tunnel, a high-rise rooftop, and a forest. These current-day performances are interlaced with archival footage of Cunningham speaking and moving.

WEB PRESENCE:
http://www.magpictures.com/cunningham/

ERNIE & JOE: A DIFFERENT KIND OF 911 CALL – USA, 96 min.
by Jenifer McShane

ERNIE & JOE follows two officers with the San Antonio Texas Police Department who are diverting people away from jail and into mental health treatment — one 911 call at a time. In the process, they are redefining policing and its mandate to keep people safe, while transforming the ways in which law enforcement across the U.S. can approach and help those who suffer from mental illness.

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.facebook.com/ernieandjoethefilm/

FLANNERY (Preview) – USA, 96 min.
by Elizabeth Coffman & Mark Bosco
Filmmaker, Elizabeth Coffman, in Attendance

With animations, never-before-seen archival footage and soul-raising music, FLANNERY illustrates the biography of the brilliant, young writer from Georgia, U.S.A. Flannery O’Connor’s story is brought to life with Mary Steenburgen’s voice and through the eyes of Alice Walker, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff, Alice McDermott, Conan O’Brien, Mary Gordon and many more. These artists share their insights about O’Connor’s violent, redemptive work, while musicians—Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen—share their Flannery-inspired music in this feature-length, NEH-funded film.

TRAILER:
https://vimeo.com/354796275

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.flanneryfilm.com/#new-page-section

LETTER TO THE EDITOR – USA, 88 min.
by Alan Berliner

Independent filmmaker Alan Berliner considers the power of photography and what may be lost as daily newspapers face extinction, in this documentary exploring his near-lifelong obsession with clipping and indexing photos. For 40 years, filmmaker Alan Berliner has clipped out from the pages of The New York Times photos that caught his eye, keeping them meticulously filed and cross-indexed as a self-appointed archivist and librarian. Driven by his obsession, Berliner has completed the work of nearly a lifetime, transforming and reinterpreting his collection of images into a statement about the nature of humankind. LETTER TO THE EDITOR is a filmic essay with multiple themes and a stunning array of thousands of photographs from Berliner’s collection.

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10720268/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

NOW OR NEVER: A TONY ROMO STORY – USA, 95 min., English, Spanish
by Chris Hanna

Through the eyes of people close to Tony Romo, as well as Tony Romo himself, NOW OR NEVER follows his life through his high school, college and NFL career to tell the story of how Tony Romo became the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Tony’s community describes the impact Tony has on them by returning each year. His father gives insight into the origins of Tony’s passion for sports. Tony’s grandparents describe their own journey from Mexico, and how their dreams of success transferred to Tony. His coaches and former teammates detail how Tony found his passion for football in high school and went on to receive a scholarship from Eastern Illinois to play as their quarterback. They explain the ups and downs of his career as a Dallas Cowboy, how the wins, losses, injuries and ultimate retirement affected them and the community. Leaving on a good note, we learn how despite the fact that Tony never won a Superbowl, Tony has still made a wonderful impact on Burlington by proving that if you dream big, you can accomplish anything.

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.facebook.com/NoworNeverOfficialMovie/

SUPERSTAR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANDY WARHOL – USA, 1990, 87 min.
by Chuck Workman
Filmmaker in Attendance

A look at the life, work, and impact of Andy Warhol (1928-1987), pop icon and artist, from his childhood in Pittsburgh to his death after a botched surgery. Warhol coined the word “superstar,” became one, and changed the way the culture looks at and understands celebrity. After studying at Carnegie Tech, he goes to New York to be a commercial artist. By 1960, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rosenquist are inventing pop art. Warhol starts “The Factory,” his workshop where he paints and makes movies. His is a cafe society of late nights and parties. His family, friends, an agent, a curator, gallery owners, actors, the co-founder of “Interview,” and others tell stories and assess his art.

Screened as apart of an Evening with Chuck Workman

Chuck Workman’s 100 YEARS AT THE MOVIES (1994)
https://youtu.be/E_fCRE5Xtnc

WEB PRESENCE for SUPERSTAR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANDY WARHOL:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103008/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

TATTOO UPRISING – Dallas, 75 min.
by Alan Governar
Filmmaker in Attendance

TATTOO UPRISING, more than forty years in the making, is a sweeping overview of tattooing, from Biblical references and early Christian practices to the voyages of Captain James Cook and the ever-evolving image of the tattoo in the Western world. Alan Govenar began work on this film in 1980 while finishing his documentary Stoney Knows How. TATTOO UPRISING features some of the most extraordinary people of the tattoo world: including Ed Hardy, Stoney St. Clair, Cynthia Witkin, Calamity Jane, and more, as well as an unforgettable appearance by filmmaker Werner Herzog, allowing a rare glimpse at his Ed Hardy tattoo. The film was shot in part by the late legendary filmmaker Les Blank, who also appears on camera. From antiquity to the present, TATTOO UPRISING reveals the artistic and historical roots of today’s tattoo explosion.

TRAILER:
https://vimeo.com/321599578

WEB PRESENCE:
http://www.tattoouprising.com/

WHITE RIGHT: MEETING THE ENEMY – USA/UK/Norway, 55 min.
by Deeyah Khan
In partnership with WMM: Women Make Movies

In this Emmy-winning documentary, acclaimed Muslim filmmaker Deeyah Khan meets U.S. neo-Nazis and white nationalists face to face and attends the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville as she seeks to understand the resurgence of far-right extremism in the U.S. and attempts to discover new possibilities for solutions. With a U.S. president propagating anti-Muslim propaganda, with hate crimes on the rise, and divisive populist rhetoric infecting political and public discourse across western democracies, WHITE RIGHT: MEETING THE ENEMY asks why. The film is an urgent, resonant and personal look at race wars in America.

TRAILER:
https://youtu.be/_vZOHaj7l78

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.wmm.com

A WOMAN’S WORK – USA, 80 min.
by Yu Gu
In partnership with WMM: Women Make Movies

A WOMAN’S WORK is a feature documentary directed by Yu Gu, produced by Elizabeth Ai. Football and feminism collide in this feature documentary that follows class-action lawsuits filed by three former professional cheerleaders brought against their teams.

WEB PRESENCE:
https://www.awomansworkdoc.com/

ZEINAB ON THE SCOOTER – Lebanon, 81 min., Arabic (with English subtitles)
by Dima El-Horr

For a year, filmmaker, Dima El-Horr followed Zeinab, 26, on her scooter, in her professional, family and love life, with a main question in mind: How to be a young Muslim Shia veiled Lebanese woman today, living in the popular neighborhoods of Beirut who wants to assert her individuality in a patriarchal and communitarian society? By displaying her desire for emancipation and freedom, Zeinab manifests not only her singularity but also her contradictions.

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And more! Shorts blocks and short documentaries in front of some of the features will be presented.
For a full DocuFest Guide, visit:
https://www.prekindle.com/festival/id/530585115371193241