Online or in theaters, these feature films and documentary series released this year marked us with their quality and originality.
Summer of soul
Woodstock was not the only major music festival held in the United States in 1969. In New York, dozens of black artists gathered for a few weekends for the Harlem Cultural Festival. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight & the Pips and others attracted as many spectators as at Woodstock! However, the reels of the filming of this great gathering were forgotten for almost 50 years. They were found, and the artist Questlove made an event film out of them.
On Disney +
A Dog Called Money
Presented in Quebec in January 2021, this documentary by filmmaker and photojournalist Seamus Murphy takes a mind-boggling dive into the creative process of singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. The latter drew on her travels in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Washington to compose the songs for the album. The Hope Six Demolition Project. An experience without compromise.
On the Cinémas Beaubien, Park and Museum website and on YouTube
Wandering without return
After its world premiere in September 2020 at the Quebec City Film Festival (FCVQ), the excellent documentary by Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins hit theaters in February 2021. This chronicle of the lives of 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Burma for Bangladesh is a vivid testimony to the daily life in the camps. Photographer Renaud Philippe is also to be credited for this story.
On Vimeo and vucavu. Coming soon to iTunes.
The Beatles: Get Back
Even though this documentary series has just been released, it is a must-see. First, because in this period of celebration, the series by Peter Jackson embraces the hushed idea of ”cocooning” specific to the holiday season. And it also constitutes a formidable historical document surrounding the recording of the album. Let it be in January 1969. Members of the Beatles are seen and heard there in a work atmosphere much more cheerful than legend has suggested for decades.
On Disney +
Like a wave
What could be better than extraordinary images to evoke the power of … music and sounds? This is what the filmmaker Marie-Julie Dallaire offers with this film in which the quality of the photo direction is matched only by the passion animating specialists in the healing effects of music. This film includes one of the best movie shots seen in 2021, a rear tracking shot from inside a gigantic tree trunk to a wide-shot of a beach on the west coast of the United States. United.
About Crave
Pretend It’s a City
Despite his remarkable career in fiction, Martin Scorsese has always been fond of documentaries. He still proves it with Pretend It’s a City, a seven-part series devoted to Fran Lebowitz. Oh that we had fun watching this series in which the author and actress, who has no tongue in her pocket, enjoys dissecting her love-hate relationship with New York City, which is the another big star of the film. Tasty.
On Netflix
A Britney Spears trio
On Friday, November 12, a Los Angeles court lifted the guardianship imposed on singer Britney Spears for 13 years. This announcement had been preceded, in recent months, by a media and popular buzz fueled by the release of documentaries devoted to the artist, including Framing Britney Spears, by Samantha Stark on Crave, and Britney vs Spears, by Erin Lee Carr, released at the end of September on Netflix. Hulu also released Controlling Britney Spears, which would be the continuation of Framing … and is now available on Crave. Mixed up? The holiday season will allow you to catch up.
On Crave and Netflix (dubbed or with French subtitles)
A.rtificial I. immortality
A Canadian film directed by Ann Shin, this documentary opened the last Hot Docs festival in Toronto. And for good reason ! The filmmaker has carried out a very in-depth investigation into the most recent research in robotics and artificial intelligence. This includes avatars created and “nourished” by memories (photos, letters, etc.) of humans serving as their models. The director lent herself to the game with a fascinating … and frightening result. The great strength of the film is that it explored both sides of the coin.
On Club Illico
All or Nothing – Toronto Maple Leafs
In 2015, with the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League (NFL), Amazon signed the first of several documentary series in which we follow professional sports teams for a year. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the first National Hockey League team the broadcaster has turned their cameras on, during the 2020-2021 season. The result is frenzied. In the middle of the hockey season, now is the perfect time to watch it.
On Prime Video
The perfect victim
The topic may seem heavy for this time of year, but it’s too important not to talk about it. In the wake of the #moiaussi movement, journalists Monic Néron and Émilie Perreault are conducting a film survey of victims of sexual assault who have chosen the legal route to obtain redress. Unanimously, these victims feel they have to be “perfect” to be heard, listened to and to succeed.
On Club Illico, iTunes Store, YouTube, AppleTV + and others