Nonfics is not able to review every documentary and nonfiction film released in the U.S. That’s why Docs In Theaters is here to provide at least a guide to all the new releases, without critical thoughts. Where available, we will link to our own review of the film or a review at our sister site, Film School Rejects.
12 O’Clock Boys
Written, directed, produced and shot by Lotfy Nathan
Official Synopsis: The 12 O’Clock Boys are a notorious urban dirt bike pack in Baltimore — popping wheelies and weaving at excessive speeds through traffic, the group impressively evades the hamstrung police. In Lotfy Nathan’s wild, dynamic documentary (three years in the making), their stunning antics are envisioned through the eyes of young adolescent Pug — a bright kid from the Westside obsessed with the riders and willing to do anything to join their ranks. [Oscilloscope Laboratories]
Winner of the HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award at Hot Docs 2013
Honorable Mention for the Best Documentary Feature award at the 2013 Philadelphia Film Festival
Nominated for the Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film and Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Film School Rejects Grade: B+ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing in limited release in major cities nationwide. Also available on VOD and digital outlets, including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vimeo On Demand and more.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the theaters page on the film’s website.
Breaking the Frame
Written, produced and directed by Marielle Nitoslawska
Edited by Monique Dartonne (Incendies)
Official Synopsis: Breaking The Frame is a feature–length documentary portrait of the New York artist Carolee Schneemann by Canadian filmmaker Marielle Nitoslawska. A pioneer of performance and body art as well as avant-garde cinema, Schneemann has been breaking the frames of the art world for five decades, in a variety of mediums, challenging assumptions of feminism, gender, sexuality, and identity. Utilizing a rich variety of film and hi-definition formats, Breaking The Frame can be described as a kinetic, hyper-cinematic intervention, a critical meditation on the relation of art to the physical, domestic and conceptual aspects of daily life and on the attributes of memory. It uses Schneemann’s autobiographical materials to narrate the historic upheaval within Western art in post-war America.
Nonfics Rating: n/a
Now playing at Anthology Film Archives in New York City.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the screening page on the film’s website.
CaveDigger
Produced and directed by Jeffrey Karoff
Official Synopsis: Ra Paulette digs cathedral-like, ‘eighth wonder of the world’ art caves into the sandstone cliffs of Northern New Mexico. Each creation takes him years to complete, and each is a masterwork. But patrons who have commissioned caves have cut off nearly all of his projects due to artistic differences. [Shorts International]
Nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary — Short
Winner of the Best Non-European Documentary that the 2013 European Independent Film Festival
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2013 Maui Film Festival
Winner of the award for Best Documentary Short at the 2013 San Antonio Film Festival
Winner of the award for Best Short at the 2013 Newburyport Doc Film Festival
Nonfics Rating: ★★★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing nationwide as part of the 2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Program B
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates & locations page on the Shorts HD site.
Charlie Victor Romeo
Directed by Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels and Karyln Michelson
Official Synopsis: A unique and riveting theatrical experience, Charlie Victor Romeo (CVR) is a performance documentary derived entirely from the “Black Box” transcripts of six major real-life airline emergencies. When you board an airplane, who are those people in uniform to whom you entrust your life? What do they really do when things go horribly wrong? Derived entirely from the Cockpit Voice Recorder transcripts of six major airline incidents and accidents, Charlie Victor Romeo puts the audience inside the tension-filled cockpits of actual flights in distress, offering a fascinating portrait of the psychology of crisis and a person’s will to live to the last second.
Nonfics Rating: ★★★★ [Review by Dan Schindel]
Now playing at Film Forum in New York City and the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the screenings page on the film’s website.
Facing Fear
Produced and directed by Jason Cohen
Co-produced and edited by T.M. Christopher (all three Star Wars Special Editions)
Official Synopsis: The worlds of a former neo-Nazi and the gay victim of his senseless hate crime attack collide by chance 25 years after the incident that dramatically shaped both of their lives. They proceed to embark on a journey of forgiveness that challenges both to grapple with their beliefs and fears, eventually leading to an improbable collaboration… and friendship. [Shorts International]
Nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary — Short
Nonfics Rating: ★★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing nationwide as part of the 2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Program A
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates & locations page on the Shorts HD site.
HANK: 5 Years from the Brink
Written and directed by Joe Berlinger (Oscar-nominated director of the Paradise Lost trilogy)
Produced by Berlinger, Robert Richman (the Paradise Lost trilogy; An Inconvenient Truth), Ari Palitz and Jeanine Brand
Edited by Brett Mason (Under African Skies)
Featuring Hank Paulson
Official Synopsis: For three weeks in September 2008, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was charged with preventing the collapse of the U.S. economy. In HANK: Five Years from the Brink, Paulson tells the complete story of how he persuaded banks, Congress, and presidential candidates to sign off on nearly $1 trillion in bailouts — even though he found the behavior that led to the crisis, and the bailouts themselves, morally reprehensible. Paulson also details here why another fiscal crisis is inevitable. [Bloomberg Businessweek]
Nonfics Rating: n/a
Now playing at Village East Cinemas in New York City.
Karama Has No Walls
Produced, directed and edited by Sara Ishaq
Official Synopsis: Karama Has No Walls is a documentary film set in Change Square, in Yemen’s capital city Sana’a, where members of a heavily armed population set aside their weapons, and peacefully assembled in early 2011 to demand the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33 year autocratic rule. [Shorts International]
Nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary — Short
Winner of the Best Short Documentary Award at the 2012 Edindocs Documentary Film Festival
Winner of the Best Short Documentary Award at the 2012 United Nations Association Film Festival
Winner of the Outstanding Short Documentary Award at the 2012 Arab Film Festival
Special Mention Recipient for the Scottish Short Film Award at the 2013 Glasgow Film Festival
Nonfics Rating: ★★★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing nationwide as part of the 2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Program A
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates & locations page on the Shorts HD site.
Jobriath A.D.
Written, produced and directed by Kieran Turner
Edited by Danny Bresnik (Bert Stern: Original Madman )
Narrated by Henry Rollins
Featuring Marc Almond, Joey Arias, Jayne County, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, Will Sheff of Okkervil River and Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons
Official Synopsis: Seventies glam rock musician Jobriath was known as “The American Bowie,” “The True Fairy of Rock & Roll,” and “Hype of the Year.” The first openly gay rock star, Jobriath’s reign was brief, lasting less than two years and two albums. Done in by a over‐hyped publicity machine, shunned by the gay community, and dismissed by critics as all flash and no substance, Jobriath was excommunicated from the music business. He retreated to the Chelsea Hotel where he died, forgotten, in 1983 at the age of 37, as one of the earliest casualties of AIDS. In the years since his death, new generations of fans have discovered his music through acts as diverse as Morrissey, Def Leppard, The Pet Shop Boys, and Gary Numan, all of whom have cited Jobriath as an influence. Through interviews, archival material, and animation, audiences can experience the heartbreaking and unbelievable story of the one, the only, Jobriath. [Factory 25]
Nonfics Rating: n/a
Now playing in Chicago, Seattle and Phoenix. Also available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and other digital outlets.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the watch page on the film’s website.
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Directed by Malcolm Clarke (Oscar-winning co-director of the short doc You Don’t Have to Die and Oscar-nominated co-director of the feature Prisoner of Paradise)
Produced by Clarke, Christopher Branch and Nick Reed (all three Star Wars Special Editions)
Official Synopsis: The Lady In Number 6 is one of the most inspirational and uplifting stories of the year. 109 year old, Alice Herz Sommer, the world’s oldest pianist and Holocaust survivor shares her story on how to achieve a long and happy life. She discusses the importance of music, laughter and how to have an optimistic outlook on life. [Shorts International]
Nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary — Short
Nonfics Rating: ★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing nationwide as part of the 2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Program A
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates & locations page on the Shorts HD site.
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Produced, directed and shot by Edgar Barens
Official Synopsis: Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall is a moving cinema verité documentary that breaks through the walls of one of Americas oldest maximum security prisons to tell the story of the final months in the life of a terminally ill prisoner, Jack Hall and the hospice volunteers, they themselves prisoners, who care for him. The film draws from footage shot over a six-month period behind the walls of the Iowa State Penitentiary and provides a fascinating and often poignant account of how the hospice experience can profoundly touch even the forsaken lives of the incarcerated. [Shorts International]
Nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary — Short
Nonfics Rating: ★★★★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Now playing nationwide as part of the 2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Program B
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates & locations page on the Shorts HD site.
The Tightrope
Directed by Simon Brook
Written by Simon Brook and Peter Brook
Official Synopsis: Peter Brook is one of the world’s most respected and revolutionary directors of contemporary theatre. To help his actors achieve extraordinary performances, he has a special exercise, called “the Tightrope,” which evolved over decades of experimentation and practice into a process of transformation that makes theatre real and new for actor and audience alike. In this quietly eloquent and unique film, director Simon Brook — Peter’s son — reveals how the Tightrope works its dramatic alchemy. Filmed in total immersion with five hidden cameras, The Tightrope plunges us into the intimate aspects of Brook working with his troupe of actors and musicians. Without disturbing the truth of the moment, the film reveals the magic inherent to the creative process, taking us beyond the intimacy of a workshop and into a philosophical and soulful experience. [First Run Features]
Nonfics Rating: n/a
Now playing at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York City.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the playdates page on the film’s website.
Tim’s Vermeer
Directed by Teller
Produced by Penn Jillette (The Aristocrats) and Farley Ziegler (The Aristocrats)
Executive produced by Teller, Tim Jenison, Glenn S. Alai (The Aristocrats) and Peter Adam Golden (The Aristocrats)
Edited by Patrick Sheffield
Featuring Jenison, Jillette, Teller, Martin Mull (The Aristocrats), David Hockney (Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol)
Official Synopsis: Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer (Girl with a Pearl Earring) manage to paint so photo-realistically — 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning eight years, Jenison’s adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney, and even to Buckingham Palace to see a Vermeer masterpiece in the collection of the Queen. [Sony Pictures Classics]
Nominated for the 2014 BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary
Nominated for the 2014 Critics Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature
Nominated for the 2014 ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Documentary — Feature
Nominated for the 2014 Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture, Documentary
3rd Place contender for the Toronto Film Critics Association Allan King Documentary Award
Nonfics Rating: ★★★★ [Review by Daniel Walber]
Also see our interview with Jenison here.
Back in theaters for official release, playing in New York City and Los Angeles.
For details on current and upcoming theatrical openings, check the dates page on the film’s website.
