This Friday, April 17, Gateway Film Center launches the spring edition of Doc Week, the country’s only weeklong celebration of documentaries. The series of 21 films rotates between the 17th and 23rd, with films that cover the gamut from politics to science, music to history, food to fashion.
Gateway president and Doc Week programmer Chris Hamel fielded some questions on the film festival.
Columbus Underground: You’ve settled into a twice yearly event. Has the popularity continued to grow?
Chris Hamel: Yes. We’re all excited by the fact that there’s more interest than ever in documentaries in general, and Columbus Documentary Week specifically.
And now is the right time: there have never been more great documentaries being made than there are now. I love being part of an independent, non-profit theater that can bring them to Columbus twice a year.
CU: Has a culture increasingly wedded to filming and posting everything changed the style of docs available? Do you find that the highly structured style of the past is harder to find?
CH: The short answer is yes, definitely. But we can see, not just now but throughout cinematic history, that as technology changes, filmmaking evolves with it. For me, I’m not as interested in stories told in traditional structure as I am stories told well, on subjects that surprise and inspire.
CU: Does the proliferation of documentaries make the festival easier to program, or is it harder to find really quality films in the abundance of options?
CH: Well, it’s both – obviously with more options it’s harder to track down and discover the best. But I celebrate that, because with more documentaries come more great documentaries. It’s a good thing when your focus is on quality, which is what Doc Week and the film center stand for.
CU: An earth shattering film like The Act of Killing, for instance, must be a rare find. What’s this season’s gut punch?
CH: I would say the Act of Killing is not one of the best docs in years – it’s one of the best films in years. And the sequel Look of Silence is coming out August 14, and we have it exclusive at GFC.
In this week’s lineup, there are many docs that will surprise you and change your thinking. One that certainly stands out is The Hunting Ground, about sexual assaults on campuses across the country.
CU: For two years in a row, Doc Week has ended up being an Oscars preview – you’ve played every doc that ended up getting an Academy Award nomination. Are there Oscar contenders this year?
CH: It is always hard to predict this far out. Our approach in finding the best does seem to also correlate to the Oscar nominations. Right now I think docs that stand out as possible contenders are Merchants of Doubt, An Honest Liar and The Hunting Ground.
CU: Personal favorite? An under the radar people should seek out?
CH: I love this program, so it’s tough to choose. One that is a really special experience is Planetary, which is about the “overview effect,” which astronauts get when they see Earth from space. It changes their view of their own lives and humanity in general. We’re playing it only once, on Earth Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLW_cVDVlQ8
CU: The lineup seems more political than the last few – was that intentional, or just the result of what’s available?
CH: Does it seem that way? That wasn’t my intent. The goal was to collect the best from around the world, and I think we ended up with great movies and something for everyone: sports docs, rock docs, food docs … and some important political ones too.
CU: The animated The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga looks most interesting to me – how did you find that?
CH: That’s an interesting story that ties back to the start of our conversation. How we got the Baba Yaga film was, the filmmaker had heard about Doc Week, and wanted to be a part of it. I’ve started get those now – calls from people who know about the program and its quality and want to participate. That’s exciting.
CU: Anything else you want to add?
CH: I want to be sure folks in Columbus know that Doc Week is twice a year, but at Gateway Film Center, we have a thriving and vital doc lineup year-round. In fact, Doc Week is kicking off Doc Season for us – after Doc Week, we will have a new, exclusive doc every week for the rest of the quarter. The best way to take advantage of it is to come by the film center and pick up a programming guide for the quarter, and plan out some visits. There’s really great stuff coming up.
The complete lineup:
A YEAR IN CHAMPAGNE
A never-before-seen look at the real Champagne, guided by renowned wine importer Martine Saunier who takes us behind the scenes of six houses, from small independent makers to the illustrious houses of Gosset and Bollinger.
AN HONEST LIAR
The story of internationally celebrated magician and escape artist James “the Amazing” Randi, who, for his greatest trick, quit magic to reinvent himself as a renowned debunker of psychics and charlatans, exposing them up by duplicating their illusions.
COVENANT (screening with the short film COUNTRY FAIR) – Filmmaker in attendance
By Ohio State Professor Michael Mercil, this doc reveals the relationship between humans and the animals we grow for food. Covenant showtimes included a screening of Mercil’s short film, Country Fair, which offers a glimpse of a 4-H livestock competition at the Wayne County Fair in Wooster, Ohio.
ELEKTRO MOSKVA
Examines the Soviet pioneers of experimental electronic music, how they created their musical technology sometimes illicitly from military research, and their legacy today in electronic music around the world.
HAVANA CURVEBALL
While studying for his bar mitzvah, 13-year-old Mica comes up with a plan to send baseballs to distant, embargoed Cuba.
IN COUNTRY
One weekend a year, the men of Delta 2/5(R) meticulously recreate the battles of the Vietnam War in the woods of Oregon. Disquieting and provocative, the film asks, “what compels these men to bring this controversial war back to life?”
LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE
It’s one of rock and roll’s great myths that may just be true: On January 20, 1969 in a suburban Maryland gymnasium with President Richard Nixon celebrating his first inauguration nearby, did Led Zeppelin play a mysterious first concert in front of 50 confused teenagers?
MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE
Get behind the headlines with this honest, intimate portrait of murdered gay college student Matt Shepard, as remembered by those who knew him. A story of loss, love, and grief that does not go away.
MEN OF THE CLOTH
A portrait of three Italian master tailors that reveals their pride and devotion to an old-world craft, even as its mysteries and artistry have begun to be forgotten by a changing world.
MERCHANTS OF DOUBT
An eye-opening expose of how a loosely affiliated group of scientists has worked to deliberately hide truths about everything from the dangers of tobacco smoke to global warming.
OUR MAN IN TEHRAN
Famously dramatized in the Oscar Best Picture Argo, this is the true story behind the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Canada’s involvement and Ambassador Ken Taylor.
PLANETARY
A thoughtful documentary that reminds us that we’re all interconnected, beginning with the dramatic moment in 1968 when, for the first time, humans saw their planet from space – creating the worldview-changing “Overview Effect.”
PLANTPURE NATION
In this follow-up to 2011’s Forks Over Knives, filmmakers hope to inspire a national movement that will lead to adoption of a plant-based diet.
POVERTY, INC
An astonishing, sometimes terrifying expose that traces the changes in law and culture – and the comingling of government and corporations – that have led to today’s unprecedented income inequality.
REVENGE OF THE MEKONS
A New York Times Critic’s Pick. The history of the unlikely British punk band the Mekons, known as “the band that took punk ideology most seriously,” from its creation in 1977 to its current tour.
RYE COALITION – Filmmaker in attendance
When they signed with one of the world’s biggest record labels, Rye Coalition was primed to finally get their glory. Then it all fell apart. Although the band was praised by critics and supported by an absurdly dedicated grassroots fan base, somehow these Jersey rockers never got their due. Until now.
SALAD DAYS
A documentary that unearths the ’80s Washington, DC punk scene, revealing the role it played in shaping the alternative music explosion of the 1990s — and how it continues to affect popular culture today.
SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION
Director Ethan Hawke explores the life and lessons of Seymour Bernstein, an accomplished pianist who gave up performing to become a piano teacher.
THE HUNTING GROUND
This challenging, sometimes brutal documentary explores sexual assaults and institutional cover-ups on college campuses, and the psychological toll these attacks have on the victims.
TOUCH THE WALL
The story of American swimmers Missy Franklin and Kara Lynn Joyce and their incredible journey to the 2012 Summer Olympics.
THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA
In this “poetic, mesmerizing fusion of fairy tale and cultural commentary” merging animation, imagination and documentary, filmmakers explore Eastern Europe’s haunted woodlands.
For tickets and showtimes see gatewayfilmcenter.com.
A full slate of movie reviews is available on my website at MADDWOLF. You can also follow me on Twitter @maddwolf, like me on Facebook at MaddWolfColumbus and listen to weekly FRIGHT CLUB podcasts.