The new season of NYC’s premiere documentary series Stranger Than Fiction has been announced, and it has at least one big doozy. Occasionally a fiction or hybrid film sneaks into the program, and this fall the outsider title is Escape From Tomorrow, the hard-to-release Sundance sensation that is set in and was shot secretly — and doc-ishly — within the park grounds of Disneyland. Artistic Director and co-host Thom Powers qualified the selection by saying it “fulfills the label of ‘stranger’ even if it is fiction.”
In addition to that special presentation, other sneak previews in this, the start of STF’s ninth year, include opening night pick Linsanity, pre-season special Muscle Shoals and lesser-known upcoming releases Calvet, Big Men and The New Public. As for the retro titles this season, Powers and partner/Executive Director Raphaela Niehausen have picked the ten-year-old Oscar nominee Capturing the Friedmans (one of the best docs of the 2000s), the 2005 Oscar winner Born Into Brothels (not one of my favorites) and Morgan Neville’s 1996 essay film Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.
As always, each show includes a post-screening Q&A, usually with the filmmakers and maybe others, and as usual I would recommend the season pass. Even if you don’t like Brothels, either. It’s still very much worth the low “early bird” price of $80. And you should always revisit nonfiction films you didn’t like once. You’ve probably changed since then.
Here is the full schedule for the Fall 2013 season. For more info and updates, visit the STF website and blog:
Stranger Than Fiction: Fall 2013 Season 8:00pm Tuesdays at IFC Center, Sept. 24 — Nov. 12
- Sept. 18: Pre-season special: MUSCLE SHOALS (2013, Q&A w/ dir Greg “Freddy” Camalier & FAME recording studio founder Rick Hall)
- Sept. 24: Opening Night — LINSANITY (2013,Q&A w/ dir Evan Jackson Leong & producer Brian Yang)
- Oct. 1: BIG MEN (2013, Q&A w/ dir Rachel Boynton)
- Oct. 8: ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW (Q&A w/ dir Randy Moore & actor Roy Abramson)
- Oct. 15: CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (2003, Q&A w/ dir Andrew Jarecki)
- Oct. 22: THE NEW PUBLIC (2012, Q&A w/ dir Jyllian Gunther)
- Oct. 29: BORN INTO BROTHELS (2004, Q&A w/ dir Ross Kauffman)
- Nov. 5: CALVET (2011, Q&A w/ subject and painter Jean-Marc Calvet)
- Nov. 12: SHOTGUN FREEWAY: DRIVES THROUGH LOST L.A. (1996, Q&A w/ dir Morgan Neville)