Premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, “Red Rocket” both advances and further clarifies what has become director Sean Baker’s signature hook, marking a now four-strong series that sees in the lives of sex workers a kind of key to unlock elements of the modern American experience.
Swapping the iPhone-shot frenzy “Tangerine” and the 35mm bubblegum pop of “The Florida Project,” Baker’s latest finds him speaking in a more traditional prestige indie vernacular for a film with plenty to say about the past four years.
And if you don’t get that “Red Rocket” is more than just a character study of a washed-up porn star in his Texas hometown during the summer of 2016, well, an early shot of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) rolling a joint with stars-and-stripes-printed paper while watching that year’s Republican National Convention should help clear things up.
Not that the...
Swapping the iPhone-shot frenzy “Tangerine” and the 35mm bubblegum pop of “The Florida Project,” Baker’s latest finds him speaking in a more traditional prestige indie vernacular for a film with plenty to say about the past four years.
And if you don’t get that “Red Rocket” is more than just a character study of a washed-up porn star in his Texas hometown during the summer of 2016, well, an early shot of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) rolling a joint with stars-and-stripes-printed paper while watching that year’s Republican National Convention should help clear things up.
Not that the...
- 7/14/2021
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
Roberto Minervini, an Italian-born Texas-based documentarian, former punk band singer and It technician, is known for spending months or years building connections and trust within communities as he films their lives.
Shooting handheld himself, filming without cutting until data cards are full and he can no longer hold up his Arri Amira camera, Minervini is seemingly obsessed with what he calls his responsibility to create “a sacred space…for them to be who they are. That’s who I am as a filmmaker.”
His controversial 2015 film “The Other Side” chronicles the lives of “people on the outs, poor, dealers, criminals, then the militias.” The young white males that populate the back roads of Louisiana and Texas are in a place Minervini relates to, he told Ji.hlava docu film fest director Marek Hovorka in a masterclass at the 24th edition of the Czech Republic’s leading non-fiction film event.
“The feeling of abandonment,...
Shooting handheld himself, filming without cutting until data cards are full and he can no longer hold up his Arri Amira camera, Minervini is seemingly obsessed with what he calls his responsibility to create “a sacred space…for them to be who they are. That’s who I am as a filmmaker.”
His controversial 2015 film “The Other Side” chronicles the lives of “people on the outs, poor, dealers, criminals, then the militias.” The young white males that populate the back roads of Louisiana and Texas are in a place Minervini relates to, he told Ji.hlava docu film fest director Marek Hovorka in a masterclass at the 24th edition of the Czech Republic’s leading non-fiction film event.
“The feeling of abandonment,...
- 10/30/2020
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
“American Factory” has been named the best documentary of 2019 at the 13th annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony, which were presented on Monday evening in New York City.
The film, executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions, and distributed by Netflix, is an examination of an Ohio glass factory that was taken over by a Chinese company in an uneasy cultural alliance. It prevailed in a category in which all six nominees — “American Factory,” “Apollo 11,” “For Sama,” “Honeyland,” “Midnight Family” and “One Child Nation” — are also on the Oscars shortlist for documentary features.
The “American Factory” directors, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, also won the award for Outstanding Direction. The Outstanding Production category resulted in a tie between two films set in Syria, “The Cave” and “For Sama.”
Also Read: 'For Sama' Is Named Top Doc at Ida Documentary Awards
“Honeyland” won for cinematography,...
The film, executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions, and distributed by Netflix, is an examination of an Ohio glass factory that was taken over by a Chinese company in an uneasy cultural alliance. It prevailed in a category in which all six nominees — “American Factory,” “Apollo 11,” “For Sama,” “Honeyland,” “Midnight Family” and “One Child Nation” — are also on the Oscars shortlist for documentary features.
The “American Factory” directors, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, also won the award for Outstanding Direction. The Outstanding Production category resulted in a tie between two films set in Syria, “The Cave” and “For Sama.”
Also Read: 'For Sama' Is Named Top Doc at Ida Documentary Awards
“Honeyland” won for cinematography,...
- 1/7/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Beyonce’s “Homecoming” has landed three nominations to lead all films in the first round of noms for the Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based awards ceremony established in 2007 to honor all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking.
In an announcement made at a luncheon in downtown Los Angeles, Cinema Eye Honors organizers unveiled nominations in seven categories, including new categories for broadcast editing and cinematography. “Homecoming” received nominations in both those new categories, as well as for the outstanding broadcast film of the year.
It faces off in that last category against “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,” “At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal,” “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” “Leaving Neverland” and “The Sentence.”
Also Read: 'Homecoming' Film Review: Beyoncé's Powerful Documentary Captures Her Once-in-a-Lifetime Coachella Triumph
Other shows with multiple nominations were the broadcast series “Salt Fat Acid Heat” and “Tricky Dick,” which received two each.
In an announcement made at a luncheon in downtown Los Angeles, Cinema Eye Honors organizers unveiled nominations in seven categories, including new categories for broadcast editing and cinematography. “Homecoming” received nominations in both those new categories, as well as for the outstanding broadcast film of the year.
It faces off in that last category against “Apollo: Mission to the Moon,” “At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal,” “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” “Leaving Neverland” and “The Sentence.”
Also Read: 'Homecoming' Film Review: Beyoncé's Powerful Documentary Captures Her Once-in-a-Lifetime Coachella Triumph
Other shows with multiple nominations were the broadcast series “Salt Fat Acid Heat” and “Tricky Dick,” which received two each.
- 10/24/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Robert Minervini brings together four stories about black life in this subtle but strikingly elegiac documentary
Black cinema has been galvanised at every level, from blockbuster to arthouse to documentary, by the social-justice drive of the last half-decade. What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? is another worthy addition to that growing canon – even if it splits its focus too much, to the detriment of the greater political impact it might have had.
Italian director Robert Minervini, whose documentaries have frequently focused on the American south, divides his attention between four separate strands about African American lives in the summer of 2017: Titus Turner and Ronaldo King, young brothers running free in the edgelands; Judy Hill, an inspirationally foul-mouthed former drug addict, about to lose her New Orleans bar to gentrification; Mardi Gras “Indian chief” Kevin Goodman, keeping tradition breathing through his costumery; and Mississippi’s New Black Panther party,...
Black cinema has been galvanised at every level, from blockbuster to arthouse to documentary, by the social-justice drive of the last half-decade. What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? is another worthy addition to that growing canon – even if it splits its focus too much, to the detriment of the greater political impact it might have had.
Italian director Robert Minervini, whose documentaries have frequently focused on the American south, divides his attention between four separate strands about African American lives in the summer of 2017: Titus Turner and Ronaldo King, young brothers running free in the edgelands; Judy Hill, an inspirationally foul-mouthed former drug addict, about to lose her New Orleans bar to gentrification; Mardi Gras “Indian chief” Kevin Goodman, keeping tradition breathing through his costumery; and Mississippi’s New Black Panther party,...
- 10/17/2019
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Since moving to the United States in 2000, Italian-born director Roberto Minervini has become one of the foremost documentarians of the American South. His fifth feature, What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?, marks a departure in focusing, for the first time, on African-American lives in the region. Shot between Mississippi and Louisiana, the film weaves together three parallel threads: a pair of young brothers, Ronaldo King and Titus Turner, whose fierce bond is evident from the jump; a musician/singer/bar owner named Judy Hill, who conducts community meetings aimed at consciousness-raising; and members of the New Black Panther Party, seen […]...
- 8/16/2019
- by Lawrence Garcia
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Since moving to the United States in 2000, Italian-born director Roberto Minervini has become one of the foremost documentarians of the American South. His fifth feature, What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?, marks a departure in focusing, for the first time, on African-American lives in the region. Shot between Mississippi and Louisiana, the film weaves together three parallel threads: a pair of young brothers, Ronaldo King and Titus Turner, whose fierce bond is evident from the jump; a musician/singer/bar owner named Judy Hill, who conducts community meetings aimed at consciousness-raising; and members of the New Black Panther Party, seen […]...
- 8/16/2019
- by Lawrence Garcia
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A Sensitive Portrait of Working-Class African Americans, By an Italian Who Fears and Loves the South
Roberto Minervini’s “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” is a documentary portrait of working-class African-Americans in New Orleans mired in struggles for social justice and preservation of their cultural identity. Shot in a high contrast black-and-white, in-your-face style, the film forces the audience to contend with anger and fear. Minervini wants that confrontation to facilitate a much-needed discussion on race, racism, and privilege in America.
“I have captured sections of present-day America where there’s almost this nostalgia for the kind of overt hatred and intolerance that once thrived, and didn’t just emerge with the election of Donald Trump,” said Minervini.
Born in the tiny town of Fermo, Italy off the Adriatic Coast, he moved to New York City in 2000 as an It consultant for a client based in the World Trade Center. The next year, he received 18 months’ salary from the state as a 9/11 victim,...
“I have captured sections of present-day America where there’s almost this nostalgia for the kind of overt hatred and intolerance that once thrived, and didn’t just emerge with the election of Donald Trump,” said Minervini.
Born in the tiny town of Fermo, Italy off the Adriatic Coast, he moved to New York City in 2000 as an It consultant for a client based in the World Trade Center. The next year, he received 18 months’ salary from the state as a 9/11 victim,...
- 8/16/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
It’s hard to describe a film that is merely a series of pointed, often fiery, discussions between different people on the topic of race, particularly when those discussions, ultimately, aren’t impactful. They manage only to rile up an audience that is already overwhelmed by their own experiences with race without providing any forward movement or direction. So let’s just call writer-director Roberto Minervini’s “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” what it is: aimless and triggering.
It’s the most unproductive type of sociopolitical film, especially in today’s climate, in that it aims to incite but not to motivate. Documentarian Minervini (“The Other Side”) introduces us to black people in 2017, living deep inside the margins in Louisiana and Mississippi and feeling helpless following a rash of brutal murders of black residents that have gone carelessly unsolved. The constant lack of attention to...
It’s the most unproductive type of sociopolitical film, especially in today’s climate, in that it aims to incite but not to motivate. Documentarian Minervini (“The Other Side”) introduces us to black people in 2017, living deep inside the margins in Louisiana and Mississippi and feeling helpless following a rash of brutal murders of black residents that have gone carelessly unsolved. The constant lack of attention to...
- 8/15/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
While many art films may judiciously, tactfully, or uneasily remain at a distance from theirs subjects, Italian director Roberto Minervini takes the opposite approach in his searing, deeply moving documentary, What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? His film, shot digitally in confrontative, high contrast black and white, gets close—very close—to his subjects, weaving together three separate stories of black Americans from New Orleans such that we’re aggressively faced with their strength, anger, fear and sorrow much more than with the details of their lives and homes.Framed between bookends showing the crafting of Mardi Gras outfits in a tradition of African Americans disguising and celebrating with Native Americans costumery so as to parade freely, the film starts with the young teen Ronaldo and his younger, more skittish brother Titus. They are introduced in a declaratively on-the-nose scene that earns its heavy hand: Encountered...
- 1/28/2019
- MUBI
Things are better than ever before, and things have never been worse. Such is the paradox that undergirds so many aspects of American life these past few years, and such is the paradox that Roberto Minervini seeks to explore to somewhat mixed results with his latest documentary, “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” Visually forceful and narratively understated, the verité-influenced film leans hard on its lush black and white cinematography in its attempt to offer a poetic snapshot of African-American life in the Deep South.
The film interweaves four (though it’s really more like three) main threads with just one shared connection: they all are centered around African-Americans living in Louisiana and Mississippi in the sweltering summer of 2017. The fact that the end credits list each figure with their given names attached to a character-archetype speaks to film’s desire to mine the specifics of...
The film interweaves four (though it’s really more like three) main threads with just one shared connection: they all are centered around African-Americans living in Louisiana and Mississippi in the sweltering summer of 2017. The fact that the end credits list each figure with their given names attached to a character-archetype speaks to film’s desire to mine the specifics of...
- 9/4/2018
- by Ben Croll
- Indiewire
Following his unsettling look at Louisiana down-and-outs in “The Other Side,” Roberto Minervini tackles an easier topic to get audiences behind: a community of African-Americans in New Orleans whose stories reflect the toxic effects of centuries-old racism. “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” is a natural direction for the Italian-born director to go considering his interest in exploring the flip-side of the American dream, and yet, despite charismatic subjects, the film seems so concerned with its handsome black-and-white aesthetics that it never feels angry enough. Given the state of race relations in the Trump years, any film drawing attention to the country’s obscene disparity is welcome, and Minervini’s underlying theme of fear — the fear instilled in African-Americans from the cradle — rarely gets the kind of attention it’s given here. Alas, the sum is curiously underwhelming, though the lack of similar fare at the...
- 9/2/2018
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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