documentary Festivals Previews SIFF

SIFF’s Second Annual DocFest kicks off tonight

by Chris Burlingame

After a successful debut last year, the people at SIFF are doing another DocFest and it has a pretty impressive lineup. It runs starting on October 6 and ends next week, on October 13. There are films from Academy Award winner Laura Poitras, as well as documentaries on Reading Rainbow, ramen, Ukraine, sustainable fashion, and a lot more.

I do feel the need to offer some criticism, though. In the most charitable view, I think it’s a missed opportunity to choose not to screen The UnRedacted. Film festivals and organizations should be programming controversial and challenging films, allowing the audience to make up their own minds, not operate in fear of the loudest voices on Twitter. That Sundance and SXSW failed to live up that ideal should’ve inspired SIFF to fill that void. It’s a disappointment, to say the least.

Having said that, here are some highlights of what SIFF did program, which is quite an intriguing lineup:

Is there anyone in popular culture more beloved than LeVar Burton? I don’t think I’ve heard anything negative ever said about the “Reading Rainbow” and “Star Trek” star. This documentary explores Burton’s groundbreaking “Reading Rainbow” show and how it’s been so universally adored, no less in part due to its impressive star.

  • Exposure (Friday, October 7, 7PM at the Uptown)

In no way would the idea of joining an expedition to the North Pole cross my mind. Climate change and melting polar ice caps make that all the more periless. It takes a unique person, or persons, in this case, to mount such a voyage. Acclaimed filmmaker Holly Morris follows a group of fearless women from the Arab world do exactly that.

Filmmakers Sam Pollard and Geeta Gandbhir tell the story of a poor, predominantly Black community in rural Alabama who has to fight way too hard for the right to vote. SIFF says they “gather first-person testimony from the grassroots organizers and local citizens (both Black and white) during that turbulent time, and combine them with rarely seen archival footage to create a documentary of uncommon intimacy and historical authenticity.”

Laura Poitras won an Oscar for her incredible documentary CitizenFour, about Edward Snowden and the revelations that he uncovered. She has a new film that looks equally potent: a documentary about activist Nan Golden about her efforts to hold the Sackler family accountable for the damage wrought from their role in the opioid crisis. The Sacklers are scum and Poitras is a treasure. This is the movie I’m most excited to see.

Passes for SIFF DocFest cost $100 ($75 members) and cover 14 in-person and 4 streaming films; individual tickets are $14 ($9). The films Hockey Dreams, Still Working 9 to 5, No Simple Way Home, and Come Back Anytime will be available to view on the SIFF Channel, SIFF’s online streaming portal, October 6-13.